


Boyhood Blues

by petiteneko



Series: Jolly Justice [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Swearing, Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2018-10-04 22:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 40,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10291721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petiteneko/pseuds/petiteneko
Summary: Actions, and inactions have their repercussions. It may not be immediate but somewhere down the line, the effect will be seen.





	1. 1: Monkey D.

**Author's Note:**

> So I'll be adding characters and tags as I see fit, or I'll end up putting them as individual stories in a series (I'll figure it out later) But THIS. Voila, my new series I'm going to start. I was going to wait until after I finished dissentient, but I just figured it out and needed to post now. And by the way, I am intentionally remaining mysterious on what the alteration(s) is/are. And I will also be changing PoV's every now and then. It'll usually be per chapter but I'll indicate if otherwise.
> 
> .xxx. time/scene change
> 
> .+++. PoV change

To say Trafalgar Law was a pragmatic person, well… it was true but perhaps stretching it a little bit. Certainly, yes, in many aspects of his life he was practical. His lifestyle, and how he ended up where he was today however?

Well pirates weren’t exactly practical, now, were they?

Granted, he was cautious and careful in his approaches. He calculated and thought things through before he attempted them. He refrained from doing certain things merely because the cost or risk outweighed the benefits.

…Well most of the time, anyway.

(Sometimes one had to take risks to change things after all…)

When he had entered the Grand Line, for example, he ensured he knew of those pirates some would call his ‘rivals’. He kept up to date with news coos, or at least ensured one of his crew did. And he watched as they ‘grew.’ As their bounties increased and the actions they did. Many, well, were your average pirate: pillaging and killing innocents in their wake. In fact, really, only two of the so-called super novas had interested him: X Drake, and Mugiwara no Luffy. The former only due to their history together (most of which only he knew) and the latter… well he wasn’t your average pirate.

(There just was something about his bounty picture as well that drew him to it. Why? Well, he wasn’t quite certain. He would probably learn it once he met the other face to face however.)

And while he hadn’t gone to seek out X Drake while on Saboady, he was very much interested in this Mugiwara no Luffy. So, when that idiot came crashing into the auction house, he was intrigued indeed.

While the chaos ensued, Law sat and observed calmly, deciding on his next course of action. Should he talk to this crazy pirate, or ignore him? Eventually Law decided: why the hell not?

“Oh, the Marines are already here Mugiwara-ya.” He started before explaining just what those so called ‘warriors of justice’ were doing outside of the auction house.

He didn’t get too far however, because something sparked in Luffy’s eyes and he bounced a bit in his spot. “T-T-Torao?!”

 _…Tiger-man? What the hell was he talking about?_ Law stared at Luffy to verify that, yes, he was referring to him. (And just _why_ he knew Luffy was referring to him, he had no clue why.)

“It’s Trafalgar Law, not _Torao._ ” He grumbled.

Some sort of excited _noise_ left the bubbly captain. “I know! I know! Oh my god it’s been so long!”

…Okay seriously, what the _fuck?_ He was beginning to regret deciding to talk to him. What did he mean so long and why was he calling him some mutilated form of his last name?

“Are those _tattoos?_ They look **so cool!** When did you get them?” Okay, Luffy was getting _too_ close now… “Do you have anymore?”

And Law immediately yanked his hand away as Luffy tried to take it. Seriously, what the fuck was his problem? Why was he being so fucking familiar with him and–

“And your spots! They’re gone!”

And **that** put an immediate halt in his thoughts as he visually flinched. How… How the **fuck** did this **idiot** know about that? Aside from the three around him nobody else knew or was supposed to know… (Well… there were a few others who did but…)

…Others?

Mugiwara no… _Luffy…_

_“Law, I want you to meet Monkey D. Luffy.”_

…Holy fuck.

Law studied the face before him, and true to what he thought, the face was identical and that strawhat…

“ _Luffy-ya?!_ ”

_Monkey D…._

A relative of Garp the hero had become a pirate? _For real?_ He always thought the kid was joking around whenever he talked about piracy… _He_ was the infamous Mugiwara no Luffy?

Of course, it had never occurred to Law that those two might be the same. His full name wasn’t on his wanted poster, and, well Law had mostly forgotten that time in his life. It had only been such a short while after all, and their meetings were so sporadic and sparse…

(How hilarious it was, that the two supernovas that intrigued him were pirates he had history with…)

And now, that child was smiling up at him with this eerie adoration in his eyes…. “You _do_ remember me!” Laughing and rubbing the back of his head, as if he was _embarrassed_ or something.

“…Well, I guess you really aren’t that worried about the Marines then, hm Luffy-ya?” Although, the admiral was a completely different story, that’s a certainty. Oh… this was just _priceless!_ Garp’s grandson just punched a fucking world noble! A small amused sound left him. “Although that makes me wonder what your grandfather has to say about all of this…”

“Shishishi, he’s _pissed._ ” Luffy stretched out the last word. “He gave me a scolding in Water 7. Apparently he’s why most of my wanted posters only contain my moniker. Stupid geezer. Trying to ‘convert’ me to the marines. As if!”

His crew on the other hand had mixed reactions to their conversation. Did Luffy not tell them about him? (Well, he didn’t blame Luffy. It had been awhile before his own crew found out about his background, and mostly only because they had walked in on something.)

Law did have to hold back a laugh however, and let it out as a smirk instead. “I bet, running away _and_ becoming a pirate definitely wasn’t what he had planned for you.”

Nico Robin stepped into their conversation – probably to the benefit of all of the strawhats. “Luffy, you know Trafalgar Law? He _is_ a pirate you know.”

“Of course I know!” Luffy said proudly and as if it was a fact of life. “He’s–”

“Hold it!”

…Well he supposed they couldn’t have a civil conversation for _too_ long of a time considering the chaos that was emerging around them…

.xxx.

When everything started settling down, Law couldn’t help but recall the encounter in the auction house.

_Torao!_

Luffy had still remembered him after all of these years? They were only children then, and Luffy was _much_ younger than him if he recalled correctly. And hell, they met probably only a handful of times. And… didn’t Luffy also have a brother? His name… ah right... Ace. The kid with the freckles.

(There was something else too, but he had trouble remembering it at this moment.)

Things had been different back then. The expressions that Luffy had been flashing him now were not the same ones he remembered as a child. No, the boys… they were sorrowful. Morose even. In fact, wasn’t he often talking about being the pirate king even then? Law thought the boy wasn’t serious because of the tone in his voice…

It only made him wonder: Why? What had caused this change in demeanour in Luffy? What had been the thing to make such a sad boy smile?

(And what about his brother? Just what was Ace doing nowadays?)

A newspaper had quickly answered that.

_Portgas D. Ace scheduled for execution._

Law could feel his blood boiling a bit. Really, the Marines were pathetic, disgusting cowards.

.xxx.

He had seen enough. He needed to get over there. He needed to do something. Sure, he hadn’t much planned out, but then again sometimes it was just better to act on instinct.

They were injured. Injured badly, and they needed a doctor and – fuck.

“Prepare the ship. We’re going to Marineford.”


	2. 2: Instinct

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay just going to throw them all in at once I've decided :3 And Happy birthday to the birthday boy. Hence why I'm updating today :3

There were two children.

Who were they? Always, always, he would see them, and _always_ he would feel this… this _something._

(He **knew** them, but he didn’t know how or why or even what their names were. But he **knew** them. He knew these children – **boys** – but… _How?_ )

(And never mind answering the question on just how he knew they were boys either…)

Who were they to him? Who was _he_ to them? Were they friends? Rivals? Classmates? Or just a figment of his imagination?

Whoever they were… they were the key to his past. They were somebody he knew in his past. In that time he had still forgotten completely about.

(Still, it was a foreign entity to him – his past. The time before the accident.)

And those boys, they always called out to him. Calling his name, gesturing to him and smiling warmly at him. (Even if those smiles were shrouded in that mist.) They laughed. They ran. They invited…

 **Who** were they?

“Sabo! Hey, Sabo!”

The boys faded away as Koala called out to him, holding today’s paper.

“The news coo came by!”

_Who **were** those boys?_

This wasn’t the first time, and Sabo wasn’t an idiot to think that this would be the last time either. No, and it wasn’t just those boys either. Sometimes he would just read the paper, sometimes it would just be somebody talking to him and he’d space out as that fog returned to the forefront of his mind. And there would just be those _things_ he knew that he shouldn’t have known otherwise.

(How to fight was just one of those things.)

Just _who_ knew who he had been as a kid…

Certainly there were those things that kept with him – instinctual things. Muscle memory. Habits… Certainly, his name was just presumed from being on his things, but… it _fit._

(Perhaps those boys calling him by his name was just a subconscious overwriting of the memory as it were, considering he had become so accustomed to being called by that name but… hearing a foreign voice calling out his name? The voices seemed so… natural.)

Today’s paper huh?

Sabo turned to a rather impatient looking Koala and smiled sheepishly at her before he took it. And actually, he really didn’t need to flip the page because it was on the front page.

_The fog was returning, but no, it wasn’t important right now…_

Sabo didn’t know why, but he was **furious.**

His hands shook as it gripped the edges of the paper. He could hear the blood as it thrummed through his body. Why? Why was he so **angry?**

(This pirate, again. Again. He had already caused one suspicious element: his name. For _some_ reason Sabo knew his name without even fully hearing it.)

_Portgas D. Ace scheduled for execution._

Something deep down within him told him: No.

He couldn’t let the Marines get away with this. He couldn’t let them do what they were planning on doing. He couldn’t let them succeed.

That’s what his gut was telling him.

“Koala, how far away are we from a Marine base?”

He just… he **needed** to put a stop to this.

.xxx.

He promised Koala that he’d come back. That this was just something he **had** to do.

After snooping around at the base, Sabo found a very fortunate opportunity for him. From the article, he had highly suspected that the Marines were calling all of their forces to the headquarters. With that article, they were all but declaring war on the Whitebeard Pirates, and the Marines would need their entire force to fight them.

(Hence why he knew going to a base would bear fruit.)

And true to his suspicions, the Marines were going out. Now, they weren’t exactly going to Marineford, as he initially thought, but to Impel Down instead. Apparently they suspected that Whitebeard would attempt something at the location that Ace was imprisoned.

So the revolutionary stowed away on one of the ships. Certainly, he was just making this up as he went but…

He’d figure something out. He’d find a way to free Ace and put a stop to what the Marines were planning on doing.

(For some reason Portgas D. Ace couldn’t die.)

Just **what** he was going to do, well, that would just have to wait until the circumstance arose. He needed to get there after all, and this was the first step of many.

.xxx.

From the eavesdropping he had done, Sabo learned quite a few things. First and foremost: They were moving Ace ahead of schedule, and were likely to execute him prior to the posted time.

(Pitiful cowards, the lot of them.)

So, Sabo couldn’t go and kidnap Ace away from under their noses, or when he was being transferred, that was a certainty. (Not that that plan was a very intelligent one. He had no ship and there were probably more than a dozen ships out there.)

Ace wasn’t there anymore.

But there was more than just the suspicion of Whitebeard that caused them to move the schedule up. No, there was _something else_ going on.

A lone pirate. A supernova, as they called him.

He had broken into Impel Down – the most secure prison in the world – and was currently leading the world’s most unprecedented jail break.

Sabo was most definitely **not** expecting that.

(Was that what he might have done if he succeeded in getting there on time?)

He didn’t think anybody else would be as **stupid** as him to take on the Marines _alone._

So why? Why was he here and **what** was he doing?

(Never mind why _he_ was doing this. He didn’t even know _why_ himself – just that it was _something_ he had to do in order to live with himself.)

So why was this pirate doing this?

Unfortunately, Sabo couldn’t get close enough to hear if the Marines had any idea themselves. Many of them were whispering but…

(Sabo had a suspicion that they knew – at least _some_ of them anyway. But certainly it wasn’t something _anybody_ thought of or made the connection until _after the fact_ simply because there wasn’t any speculation prior.

And so, there was a change of plans. Considering that the situation in Impel Down was… unfavourable.

The ship he was on was designated to deal with the escapees if it resulted in that.

…Dammit.

Sabo needed to be at Marineford, not stuck around to deal with some idiot and his band of prisoners!

Just **who** did this upstart think he was? Upsetting his plans like this…

Luffy. Mugiwara no Luffy.

…And there it was again, that strange fog. But something was wrong about it. Incomplete maybe? It was like it _almost_ rang a bell, but not completely. He just… he couldn’t place it.

_Luffy…_

And so Sabo just mulled on that and tried to eavesdrop on the Marines’ conversations while he waited for the situation in Impel Down to either settle or explode. And explode it did. In fact, _his_ ship was currently under attack by a fraction of the band of prisoners.

_Lovely. Just lovely. Stop ruining my plans dammit!_

Was he going to have to side with the Marines on this one?

(The thought disgusted him.)

Well, he might as well wait and observe until he received more information. That was something he was good at, and patience _was_ a virtue, right?

And thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long. No, soon he started hearing arguments about who got to take Whitebeard’s head, and something about Ace and relief filled him.

This ship was bound for Marineford. Excellent. He didn’t have to attempt to stow away on another Marine ship, or fight the prisoners for control of this one.

He could just sit here, lay low and…

“Oi!”

…Dammit!

Sabo wasn’t about to fight back however. They all wanted to get to Marineford after all. So he held up his hands. “Listen, I’m not going to fight you guys. We all have the same destination at hand.”

“How about you tell that to Jinbei?”

Jinbei? Wasn’t that the fishman that…

“No, no Buggy!”

They began to bicker a bit, and soon Sabo began to recognise a third group of people…

 _Well…_ he wouldn’t say he recognised their faces but… the manner of which they dressed…

_That’s right, wasn’t Iva imprisoned in Impel Down as well?_

Sabo smirked. Just his lucky day. Of _all_ the ships he ended up on…

“Oi!” He called out to the other group. “Iva’s here, right?”

This caught the attention of that group and they begun to murmur amongst themselves.

“Take me to Iva!” He implored. “I’m a friend!” Yes, Ivankov would most definitely recognise him.

And while it took a bit, _thankfully_ the band of misfits had decided, yes, Ivankov was the person who should see him. Especially since he was asking for the Queen by name. They didn’t transport him however, no, Ivankov had come to meet him instead. (Not that he was resisting or making things difficult for the jail-breakers.)

“Ah! My Candies! It is okay, vou can let him go. He’s a friend!” Ivankov declared dramatically, and his restraints were released. “Sabo-boy just vhat are vou doing here?”

And Sabo sighed in relief, flexing out his arms after they were released.

“To be honest, I _really_ have no idea, but… I just… I _can’t_ sit by and let this happen. I can’t let the Marines go through with what they are planning. I… I just…”

It made him sick to his stomach. His body shake with this **uncontrollable** rage.

“Something inside of me is telling me that I **need** to stop this.”

“Does Dragon know vou’re here?”

Sabo shook his head. “Koala and I haven’t been to the base in over a month. We had been returning after our many missions when the paper came in…”

“Vell, vou certainly got on the vight ship ma boy! Ve’re off ta save Ace-boy! Vou see, his brother is here!”

Ace’s brother?

_Sake. Sake. The clinking of cups. Laughter. It tasted bitter…_

Apparently Ivankov was still talking when he had zoned out and just realised that the revolutionary’s mind was elsewhere. “Sabo-boy?”

And, just as quickly as the vision came, it vanished.

“I-I’m fine.” His head was hurting again. “It’s nothing.”

_What **was** that?_

However, thankfully Ivankov understood and just nodded. Things like that happened all the time and it just became second nature. Sabo would sometimes space out. That was completely normal.

(Should it be?)

“And vould vou believe it? Mugiwara-boy is Dragon’s son!”

Wait, wait _what?_

The implications of that send him reeling because if Luffy was Dragon’s son and Ace was his brother…

“So ve’re going ta help Mugiwara-boy in saving his brother!”

Sabo just nodded. More allies to his cause anyway.

.xxx.

“Mugiwara-boy!”

Ivankov was insistent on introducing him to Dragon’s son. And on letting this young man who was three years his junior meet his new ally.

The boy he had been mad at earlier for messing up his plans.

Mugiwara no Luffy. The boy who had broke into Impel Down. Who broke out of it. And who was going to save Ace.

(When the boy turned, there was something off with the expression on his face, and why Sabo knew not, but it was lacking something. It was… well it was serious.)

“I heard you’re gunna help rescue Ace?” He asked, and that expression softened a little with a smile. (There, that looked better…) “You’re Iva’s nakama.”

And when Sabo looked at him, this? _This_ was Dragon’s son? And yet… just _what_ was it? (Again. It was happening again…)

“Vy apologies, Sabo-boy is sometimes like this. But yes, vis is Sabo-boy.”

And Luffy? He was tense now. There was a flinch, and that soft expression faded from his face, and hardened a bit.

(Why? Why did he dislike that?)

“…Sabo…?” His voice was quiet, sullen almost. And then he smiled sadly. “I knew a Sabo. He was… he was an amazing, wonderful guy…”

 _Was?_ What did Luffy mean by that? Did… did that Sabo die? Was that why Luffy looked so sad? Why he flinched?

“Shishishi…” Luffy forced a smile on his face and put his hat back on his head, hiding his expression for a moment. “I’m sure you’re just like that too Sabo, since you’re helping me rescue Ace. My Sabo would’ve helped too.” He was quiet for a few moments before holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Monkey D. Luffy.”

_Again. Again. There that haze was, blurring over his consciousness, and for some reason Sabo couldn’t stop his lips._

“The man who’s going to be the Pirate King.”

_It was just like with Ace… when he first heard his name…_

What was it? What was _with_ these brothers?

“Oh, you already knew that?” Luffy was laughing again.

Sabo let himself nod, trying to concentrate through that haze. “Sabo,” He said, referring to himself, “it’s a pleasure to meet you Luffy.”


	3. 3: Bonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK I AM PRODUCTIVE TODAY. Please note: Mondays/Tuesdays might not be a staple time for posting by the way. I’ll just be ensuring that it’s posted on a weekly basis! (The time was just kinda fitting when I started posting) Especially since I'm 'done' with Dissentient for now :3

The introduction had been brief, for Iva had taken him aside before informing him of everything that had happened so far. Ace’s vivre card, the happenings in Impel Down and their escape. It hadn’t been long until there was a tearful farewell to the man who had opened the gates for them. (One Sabo truly did not understand, merely because he had not known him. But, he didn’t like seeing Luffy cry like that.)

And after it was all said and done, Sabo just sat down, trying to understand everything. Because, simply, he didn’t. Why he was here. What it had to do with these two brothers. And why the hell he hated seeing Luffy doing anything but smile and laugh.

At the very least, he knew he could trust his instincts. It was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place…

“You weren’t in the prison, right?”

Sabo glanced up at that to see Luffy sitting next to him. He wasn’t frowning, but at the same time he wasn’t exactly smiling either. It _really_ unnerved him.

“No, I wasn’t.” Sabo itched to get away. He had enough on his mind right now and he didn’t need Luffy just pestering him and looking at him _like that._ Couldn’t he just smile already?

“Then how’d you get on this ship? Did the Marines capture you? Iva said you were a revolutionary…” Well, he supposed the innocent curious expression on Luffy’s face was better than that neutral one.

Sabo sighed and shook his head. “No. I snuck aboard this ship and stowed away. I was hoping to end up at Marineford.” _And then you went and commandeered this ship, which annoyed the hell out of me._ He didn’t add the last point however, as it was moot considering that was their destination at hand.

“Really?”

When Sabo glanced at Luffy, all of his nerves unwound themselves. There. That was much better, the way that Luffy was looking at him, eyes practically glowing.

“Yeah, from what Iva told me, for the same reason as you.”

Luffy made some strange sound of happiness. “Really? How do you know Ace? I mean, I hadn’t seen him in three years so I don’t know all of his friends and.. ”

…Goodness he was just going off on tangents, wasn’t he?

“I don’t know Ace.”

And that put a complete halt in Luffy’s spiel. “…Huh?” He looked confused again, but still happy, and that was good enough for him he supposed.

“Don’t ask me why, but for some reason I can’t let this happen. It…it makes me angry. It turns my stomach I just…” He shook his head. “Let’s leave it at that, shall we? I can’t exactly explain why I am the way I am.”

It was just… fact. Luffy just didn’t know him or who he was or his past and while he didn’t think Luffy would understand hopefully he wouldn’t pry.

“Okay!”

…Huh?

“It’s just your instincts right? I understand that perfectly fine.” He was laughing now. “I don’t get why your instincts tell you to save Ace, but I’m happy they are.”

…Weirdo.

.xxx.

Luffy was currently telling him about Ace. Explaining what he looked like and his personality and his devil fruit and Sabo, well, he listened. He might as well learn just who this man was that he had decided to risk his life for.

“And, and then I met him in Alabasta! It was funny because he was waiting for me there but people forgot to tell me his message, but I met him anyway.” He laughed sheepishly. “That’s where he gave me this.” And Luffy pulled out a burning piece of paper from his hat. He made a sad expression before putting it back. “It was so nice to see him after three years. He invited me to his crew but of course I refused. The pirate king _has_ to be the captain!”

There was more laughter, and yes, Sabo was more confident that this was how he liked to see Luffy. Smiling and laughing and just having fun. He’d question why later.

“And! Oh!” Now Luffy was grinning. “I showed him my prized possession.” Now, oh that grin had turned into this expression. It was just… so **happy.** “You see, my friend Vivi, she was secretly part of this organisation…” Then Luffy had a sour face, gesturing towards Crocodile. “And she had wanted posters and!” Luffy’s eyes lit up again as he returned to the topic at hand. “You see, there’s this really cool pirate and I have his wanted poster and Ace and I knew him as kids and I showed Ace!”

…This idiot was giddy. What the hell.

“And I met him a few days ago at the tree-islands and Torao has all these **cool** tattoos when he became a pirate! He’s got this cool beard too! And this **really** awesome-looking sword! And this bear and…”

…That wasn’t telling him anything Luffy. Nothing at all. And he wasn’t aware of any pirates named (or nicknamed) Torao either…. And Luffy was going on about just _how cool_ this Torao character was…

He doubted they’d be getting back to the subject of Ace anytime soon…

.xxx.

More news came out about Luffy and Ace and Dragon however. How apparently Luffy and Ace were not brothers by blood, but by bond.

(It only made him remember that image of sake and the taste as it burned down his throat…)

What was it? And why?

Sabo sighed and just rested his head against a wall.

“Someving the matter, Sabo-boy?”

He opened his eyes to look up at Iva. “Headaches.” He explained, and truthfully, yes, he getting them in droves right now. Whenever that fog came in or certain things were said… And they just _kept happening._

“Ah. Are vou vinking vhat I vink vou’re vinking Sabo-boy?” Iva said, gesturing towards Luffy.

…Now that Iva pointed it out, yeah, it _was_ starting to make some sense…

“Vi vould suggest vou vait on vat Sabo-boy. Not vat Vi’m saying it’s not possible but…”

Sabo nodded. “He has enough on his mind right now.”

Iva nodded. “It’s highly possible, vou know. Vou both originated from East Blue after all.”

Not to mention, well… he doesn’t exactly _remember_ it at all, and wouldn’t that be a slap in the face? No, let Luffy worry about Ace, and not some kid from his past whom he may or may not be.

.xxx.

This? It was war. Completely and utterly, and those damn Marines had the upper hand with Ace in sea-stone cuffs. And after hearing that this publicity was all over the fact of who Ace’s biological father was, well it only ignited that fury within him even more. In fact, it was almost blinding, that anger. He had to save Ace, he **had** to save Ace. He couldn’t let the Marines have him.

And he fought. Luffy fought. They _all_ fought. Many fell, allies and foes alike.

(All of this, over a fucking bloodline!)

Here the Marines were, demonising these two brothers based on who their fathers were. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t righteous. Not one bit of it. And _finally_ when they achieved hope, when Ace was freed and on the run…

Sakazuki descended, and he attacked. Not only with lava, but with words.

Sabo saw it coming. They all probably did. Except Ace. (Or if he did, he didn’t care.)

Ace refused to keep running, and Luffy was trying to convince him to continue. Begging him. Telling him that this wasn’t what Whitebeard wanted and Sakazuki was just goading him on and they needed to leave.

(The others were too preoccupied with the other admirals. He needed to get there, it wasn’t boding good. Not with Luffy’s condition, or Ace’s temper…)

And he _saw_ it. _Saw_ the way Sakazuki had aimed his molten fist towards Luffy. _Saw_ the way that Ace had stepped in the way to protect his younger brother… _Saw_ as red exploded everywhere. Fire. Lava. Blood. _Saw_ the fist as it impaled Ace… _Saw_ Luffy as he tilted back, screaming to the heavens...

He _saw_ Ace die.

He _saw_ Luffy break.

( _No… no,_ his mind screamed. _**No!**_ )

The shock shook him and brought him back to the present. And he _watched…_ Watched as Sakazuki brought his fist back…

“ ** _NO!_** ” Sabo screamed as he charged towards the admiral with a haki-infused claw. Anything. Anything. He **needed** to stop him from killing Ace…

And Sabo diverted Sakazuki’s attack.

He heard Ace’s scream of pain, and Luffy’s strangled cries of worry, but he had to ignore it for now. No. He needed to keep Sakazuki handled, he couldn’t let this… this _monster_ harm these brothers anymore.

“ _Another_ revolutionary?” The man of magma spat at him. “How **dare** you…”

Sabo hardened his gaze on the admiral. “You **will not** harm these brothers!” He channelled all of his fury at this man. The man who hunted down Luffy and Ace. The man who tried – _and almost succeeded_ – in killing them.

(He could hear sobbing and muttering behind him. In fact, he heard _his_ name muttered, but whether or not they were referring to _him_ or the other Sabo, he wasn’t too certain.)

He didn’t allow himself to be distracted, no. He used his Haki to disrupt the magma from seeping behind him. God dammit, couldn’t somebody just fucking grab them already?

(He heard the sound of a body hitting the ground and a heartbreaking scream ripple out into the air. What happened? Fuck. _what happened?_ )

“I’ve got them now! Ace is still alive!”

(…That was Jinbei. Oh, _thank god..._ )

Chaos, it was chaos everywhere, and in his relief, that damned Sakazuki broke away from him, and began to chase after the fishman carrying the two unconscious brothers away.

Bastard.

He was able to spare a glance at Ace finally, and the sight was not pretty. If he didn’t see a doctor soon… (And if he hadn’t diverted Sakazuki’s blast…)

Sabo narrowed his sights on the admiral once more… He couldn’t let that bastard win.


	4. 4: Brothers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this is alright, I had to redo edits D< so. Here you all go.

Trafalgar Law didn’t have any time for questions. No, he just took the injured into his submarine and had them immediately prepped for surgery.

(The marines wouldn’t let them go this easily. No. No after the war that just happened. Not after Portgas D. Ace being declared at the son of Gol D. Roger. Not after Monkey D. Luffy being declared the son of Dragon the revolutionary.)

Ace was the worst of the trio. He had taken heavy damage to his side, and if the injury was anymore to the center of his body… (He wasn’t too sure if even _he_ could repair the damage done…)

Jinbei wasn’t pretty either, a hole through and through. It would take a lot of work to heal that. But at least it was in a non vital area.

Luffy’s injuries weren’t light, (perhaps in comparison to the other two, yes, he was the least injured) he still sustained heavy damage, but repairable.

As he scrubbed himself down, Bepo was able to pick up on the anger that was practically radiating off of him.

(And angry he was… The Marines would do this to these boys? Merely on the basis of whom their parents were?)

(Who was he kidding? He was from Flevance after all. The Marines hadn’t changed, despite what Cora-san had said…)

“Captain, are you okay?”

Law sighed. “I’m just angry Bepo. Angry at the government. Let’s just go save these brothers, shall we?”

(And if he couldn’t save them, well, Trafalgar Law just had two more people to avenge.)

.xxx.

“…How are they?”

Law sighed at the repetitive question. He had been asked that by multiple people at once when Boa Hancock had boarded his submarine, demanding to know the condition of Mugiwara no Luffy. And then that person with the purple afro had also asked the same question but in the case of Ace and Jinbei. Thankfully, it was only the Snake Queen and this blond haired man that insisted upon remaining on his submarine’s deck, the others were aboard the stolen Marine ship. It was the blond haired man’s turn to ask this – but in the case of all three involved.

Law remembered seeing him. The man with the black claws that has succeeded in redirecting Sakazuki’s attack so that it was not immediately fatal. The man who had extended Ace’s life long enough to find medical attention.

(That attack however caused Ace to fall unconscious, and Luffy had just… assumed that Ace had died and proceeded to pass out in shock as well. And… that didn’t surprise him, no, because his memories of the two brothers had been becoming clearer and clearer as he mulled on them, and he remembered now, that these two brothers had been more. There had been three until…)

“Stable, for now.”

He didn’t want to imagine what it would be like when Luffy woke up however… (The boy had been through so much, as he had heard. He was informed of Luffy’s trials in Impel Down, and how he had been running on sheer adrenaline that entire war… And believing that he had lost _yet another_ brother….)

It was going to be hell.

“My crew are constantly monitoring them. Ace sustained the worst of the damage, but I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss Jinbei and Luffy’s injuries as non life-threatening either.”

And the man relaxed. “They’re okay?” He let out a sob. “Thank god. Thank god…”

Ah, no… this was no ordinary man. Law realised now just _where_ he recognised him. He was a revolutionary… ranked just below Dragon. The Chief of Staff...

“Why? Why did you do it? Why did you come here?”

Law blinked and shrugged. “A whim. Certainly, yes, I have history with these two brothers but…”

“Say no more!”

…Ah right, that person with the purple afro was Ivankov, weren’t they?

“Be glad ve have so many allies Sabo-boy!”

Law flinched as he heard the name. Sabo? _Sabo?_

_“Luffy… Luffy calm down.” Ace’s arm was wrapped around the hysterical child._

_Luffy was crying and screaming incoherently. Law could hardly understand what he was even saying, but he heard something about missing and not fair. And Sabo._

_“Shh, I know Luffy. I know. I miss Sabo too, but we need to be strong for him. He wouldn’t want to see his little brother crying like this, would he?”_

_“Sabo wouldn’t want to see us like this at all Ace!”_

_And Law? All he could do was bring his legs up and buried himself deeper into his book about metal poisoning, trying to seem invisible. He couldn’t help but recognise Luffy’s actions as his own in his past… Had Sabo died?_

It didn’t take long for his younger self’s suspicions to be confirmed with later visits by the brothers, and that Sabo’s death had really affected Luffy.

“…Sabo?” The name sounded foreign on his tongue. “Sabo-ya… isn’t that…?”

“…Yeah. Somebody Luffy and Ace knew as kids. Also happens to be my name, go figure.”

Law sighed and shook his head. “…No, not just somebody. He… was their brother, and he apparently died in an accident.”

“…A brother, huh?” Sabo said thoughtfully before wandering off.

.xxx.

Law didn’t know what to make of Sabo. He was perplexing and, well, he wondered just what his motivations were for helping Ace and Luffy. From what he knew, the second hand of the revolutionary army hadn’t been captured by the Marines, so just _why_ was he at Marineford? It couldn’t be the fact that Luffy was Dragon’s son, because Sabo was already on the battle field before that was revealed…

He had begrudgingly let the revolutionary wander the ship – as long as he was accompanied by one of his crew members, and, well, he wasn’t looking forward to being that person whenever that time came. He didn’t know why but… there was just something he didn’t like about Sabo. Maybe it was the mystery surrounding him?

Meanwhile, he had Luffy’s hat in his hands, and he had been toying with it a little. Mugiwara… this was the reason for his moniker huh? Well, the kid had been wearing it even _back then_ too, even if it was a little big and not as ragged looking as it was now. It had been important to Luffy, although why, he didn’t know (or remember if he had ever been told about it) but, he wasn’t the only one who seemed to know that it was important. That flying clown knew that too, didn’t he?

“Hey, isn’t that Luffy’s?”

Law flinched at the presence of the revolutionary. Dammit, he was hoping to avoid him until he had to…

“Yeah.” He said and ceased twirling it in his hands. “I’m holding onto it for him. Don’t worry, I left my sword in his care in it’s place.” (But not on his head, obviously.)

Sabo laughed and shook his head. “Nah, I wasn’t worried. So, _how_ do you know them?”

“We met as kids every now and then.” He stated simply and looked at the hat in his hands. “After that, I had forgotten all about them until I encountered Luffy-ya at Sabaody a few days ago.”

“Oh! So _you’re_ Torao!” Sabo was laughing. _Laughing._

_God damned idiot and not being able to pronounce his last name!_

“…Apparently Luffy-ya has difficulties pronouncing things.” He sighed. Ah well, he had gotten used to it as a kid, so he couldn’t complain.

“You know, he doesn’t shut up about you.”

“…What?”

“Yeah, you were all he wanted to talk about as we travelled from Impel Down to Marineford.”

…Luffy was talking about him to others? Why? _And when did he give that idiot permission… he better not have opened his mouth about…_

“He was so excited to see you at Sabaody. I bet he will be when he wakes up too.” And more laughter from that damned revolutionary.

(Although now that he thought back to it… Luffy _was_ rather enthusiastic back at the Auction House…)

“I can’t imagine why.” Law conceded with a shrug, and truthfully he couldn’t. “I mostly ignored him and his brother and read my books.” His life depended on it after all… Studying various poisons and genetic diseases, or whatever he could find on his devil fruit… “Not to mention, well, he’ll want to check in on Ace first. Shock was what caused him to pass out after all. It was the final straw, considering the stress he had put on his body.”

And Sabo nodded. “I… I understand him there.” His hand trembled. “If _something_ happens to either of them…”

Law watched him carefully. He was a perplexing character. He didn’t seem to have any connection to Luffy or Ace and yet… he was so emotionally invested in this. Why?

“…Why did you help them Sabo-ya?”

“Huh? I… I guess it was similar to you, but not quite. I just… I had this urge. I had to stop the Marines. I couldn’t let Ace die. It just… unleashed this **fury** within me, and so I went to the nearest base and snuck aboard a ship…”

While Law could understand to some extent… he could also rationalise his own thoughts and reasons and behaviours. It was a way to get back at the government. At the Marines. And, well, he _knew_ these brothers as well…

But Sabo? He couldn’t logically rationalise _his_ actions one bit.

Unless Sabo knew about Luffy’s lineage, but he doubted that would be the case. Hell, even _he_ didn’t know who Luffy’s father was. Not to mention, well, Luffy wasn’t even in the equation when Sabo decided to smuggle aboard a Marine ship…

So he shook his head. “I just… I don’t understand. Why you would do so much for men you don’t even know. Instinct? What caused that instinct? Or… do you just have a thing for righteousness?”

(He supposed that made sense considering the guy was a revolutionary after all…)

Sabo sighed and shook his head. “...No, it’s not that. Honestly, I... I don’t know. Just that when I read the paper that they were going to execute Ace something in me just... boiled with rage.” There was a sad smile on his face and the revolutionary placed a hand on the scar on his eye. “Ten years ago... I only have memories for the last ten years of my life. Maybe I experienced a trauma of execution as a child? Maybe it triggered some other sort of trauma? My feelings were the only thing that seemed to transfer over after I was involved in that incident which caused me to lose my memory.”

_Ten years ago... isn’t that when...?_

Law was starting to piece things together. It was making sense. If Sabo was in an incident traumatic enough to cause a loss of memory, it seemed feasible that people might think he had died. And since he didn’t remember...

“It… didn’t happen to occur in East Blue, did it?”

Sabo sighed and his hands clenched again. “...I know what you’re thinking. Iva brought it up too. But...” His gaze went towards the operating rooms. “Even if it’s what we all think it is... it’s better the way it is.”

Law’s hand clenched at the strawhat beneath his fingertips. “How? **How** is it better!” Why? Why was he so angry at this? This was just Luffy’s problem, not his. “ _Anybody_ would rejoice if their loved one wasn’t actually dead!”

Sabo sighed. “That’s just it. I’m not the Sabo they know and love. It’d just be like dangling a piece of meat where they can’t reach it. Can you imagine being told your brother or mother or father or whoever you lost was actually alive, but they don’t remember a thing about you? They don’t know your face or care about you, and may actually be a completely different person than you remember?” Sabo was clutching at his own hat now, pulling the brim down with taut fingers. “Or that it was just a maybe and may not even be true? How can I do that to them? To give them hope but brutally rip it from their grasps? How can I tell them I might be their Sabo but I don’t remember them? That there’s a possibility I might not even be that Sabo? They’ve been through enough right now.”

Law looked down at the hat in his grasp, fingers only tightening. No, Sabo was right. It _was_ cruel to do that to the brothers. Law knew just how much they suffered. He heard it in their cries. He saw it in Ace’s eyes as he forced himself to stay strong. He knew what it was like to lose the people you cared about...

(That was probably why he had reacted that way. Jealous. He was jealous. Luffy and Ace had the chance at reuniting with a loved one they thought dead, and Law... he was angry that Sabo wasn’t allowing it to happen. What he would do to have Cora-san back… Or Lami... Or his parents... Or Flevance... and he didn’t think before he spoke.)

“…You’re a doctor, do you… do you know any way to remember what you have forgotten?”

Law looked at Sabo, and he realised that he wasn’t being mysterious just to be an ass, no he was just genuinely confused. (Just like he was.) He didn’t know what was going on, or why he was doing what he was doing, and he truly wanted to remember – especially _if_ he was their long lost brother. And sadly, Law had to shake his head. “Memories are a strange thing. It all depends on where they were stored, and how they were stored and just what was the cause of your amnesia… If the memories or where they were stored were permanently damaged, or it was just simply the pathway was blocked, or even a subconscious decision or shock…”

Sure, he could transfer personalities along with their memories but…

“Let’s just say I doubt you’d be willing to lose who you are _again_ just on a maybe.” And Law wouldn’t blame him if that was the case. Although, he _did_ let a dark smirk slip past his features, “There are no documented cases of the Ope-Ope no Mi solving amnesia, and even if I _was_ willing to attempt it, well it’s highly probable that _things_ could go wrong.” He supposed it could work in theory – that was if memories were tangible to his ability and he could separate the personality from them. (But then again, _where_ would that leave Sabo as he sifted through the memories?) “Not to mention I would have a _great_ deal of knowledge about the revolutionary army once I finished.”

(And, finally, it probably required _far_ more energy than he had at the moment. And whatever energy he _did_ have had to be reserved if any of his patients took a turn for the worse.)

“I guess you’re right.” Sabo finally said with a soft chuckle. “I think I’ll leave it to nature… I think I sometimes _almost_ remember… even if clouded by fog. Two boys calling my name… inviting me to go with them… foreign words and names whispered to me by a foreign voice… And it always seems to revolve around these brothers…”

And Law just nodded as it fell silent.

All they could do was wait after all.


	5. 5: Discrepancy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Warning, this chapter has some angsty parts to it.

“Captain!”

Trafalgar Law didn’t have to be told. Oh, he knew. He _knew_ what the problem was. Luffy. Fucking Mugiwara no Luffy.

(It was both a good and bad thing he kept them in separate rooms.)

“ _Room. Shambles._ ” Law uttered as he summoned up his ability and just… teleported into the room where Luffy was.

_He was screaming. Rampaging. Ace’s name was like a mantra on his lips and there was glass everywhere, papers and books strewn about the room. It was a complete mess._

Law caught a vial hurled in his direction.

“Luffy-ya!” He hollered above the deafening, incoherent screams. Trying, he was **trying** to reach Luffy in his mental state.

(He just _dropped_ the Strawhat in his hands.)

“ _Luffy-ya!_ ” He repeated, grasping Luffy’s shoulders firmly. “ **Luffy-ya!** Calm down!”

All he received was a scream of _Ace_ in his face.

_Fuck, he looked even worse than he did when he screamed about Sabo all those years ago…_

“Calm. Down.” He ordered calmly, putting more pressure on Luffy’s shoulders. “Calm down.”

Thankfully, the screams were becoming whimpers and blubbers now.

(Certainly, it wasn’t any less painful to hear but…)

(His voice **reached** Luffy.)

“Ace-ya is alive.” He finally said as Luffy was becoming a bit more coherent.

And that downcast gaze shot up to his, and the sorrow there made Law’s stomach drop. The tears streaming down his face, the swollen, redness in his eyes... “B-But I… I saw…” That voice was trembling. Afraid. Fear. Sorrow… _Grief._

Law had to take a deep breath. “What you _saw_ was Ace-ya collapsing due to pain and the damage dealt to his body.” He began. “He is still unconscious, but he’s alive. His vitals are stable, and have remained such since the surgery.” 

Those hopeless eyes clouded over with disbelief. And he knew, Law knew that Luffy _wanted_ to believe him, but couldn't. Not after what he saw. What he's already been through.

(Law knew, and he understood.)

So, he continued his explanation. “After _you_ passed out, Jinbei-ya carried the two of you to my submarine. Unfortunately, Sakazuki got another attack in which damaged both Jinbei-ya and yourself. You’re the second to wake up Luffy-ya. Ace-ya is still unconscious in the next room, but he’s stable.”

Hopefully that would convince him. He would bring Luffy into Ace’s room if necessary but… he couldn't have one hysterical patient potentially rough housing another.

And Luffy was still staring at him, as if trying to convince himself that _yes_ Ace was alive and that he hadn’t died back in Marineford. He sniffled; he rubbed at his eyes, and continued to look into his eyes as if trying to see the truth or deception within them.

Law knew that this took time and consideration...

“S-so Ace is…” Luffy finally stuttered out after a prolonged silence that was far more awkward than Law would have liked, his body trembling. (Relief. That’s what it was. Relief. Ace hadn’t died. He hadn’t lost his other brother. He still was here.)

But sadly, Law had to shake his head. While he knew that relief was the thing to get Luffy out of his shock, he still needed to be reminded of the realities of the situation. “It is still unknown if he will fully recover. He could take a turn at any moment, but… so far the prognosis is good. Now, will you _please_ stop destroying my submarine?”

“Ace is… Ace is…” And Luffy just… slumped to his knees and started sobbing, the tremors becoming more violent.

(To say he felt incredibly awkward right now was putting it lightly. Just _what_ was he supposed to do here?)

Arms wrapped around his legs. “Thank you. Thank you Torao. Thank you.”

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “…It’s Sabo-ya that you should be thanking. If it weren’t for his interference, Ace-ya’s injuries _would_ have been fatal.” (Let that revolutionary deal with this sobbing mess for once.)

And while he was expecting Luffy to nod and wander over to Sabo… he wasn’t expecting him to be _that_ enthusiastic. He could only sigh even more before picking up both the strawhat and his sword and just… follow that idiot outside.

He needed to stop that fool before he reopened his injuries…

.xxx.

When he found Sabo he was holding onto a small sheet of paper.

“Where’s Luffy-ya?”

“Huh?” It seemed Law had interrupted his thoughts. “Oh, he went into the forest… he said he needed to think about something…”

…There was the sound of a tree crashing.

“Trafalgar?” Law turned towards Jinbei. “What was it you said about Luffy’s wounds?”

“…That _idiot!_ ” He groaned and felt his fingers tightening on Luffy’s hat again. “If he reopens those wounds… I can’t guarantee that I can revitalise him again…” He was _too tired_ for this shit right now…

And there was a scream of frustration.

(Didn’t that idiot know that his lungs were in his chest and his chest was severely injured?)

He glanced out to where the birds flew away from that interruption in their life and felt a hand on his shoulder.

“…I think I know what’s bothering him, let me go talk to him.”

Jinbei?

Law sighed and continued looking at the strawhat.

.xxx.

When Luffy had returned there was an exhausted expression on his face. (But Law found that perfectly normal considering everything the boy had been through.)

“Hey Sabo.” Luffy said, a worn smile on his face as he waved at the revolutionary. But then he turned to face Law, and that smile extended. (While it still looked strained, there definitely was some truth in it and in the way his eyes shined ever so slightly.) “Torao!”

Sabo stepped forward slightly, and had put away that paper he had been staring at earlier. “Ah, Luffy, Iva and I will be going now. Law has told me that Ace looks to be out of danger, and since you gave me a piece of his vivre-card I’ll be able to keep up on his progress.”

A vivre-card? So _that_ was the paper Sabo was looking at earlier?

Law gave the revolutionaries a nod in farewell while Luffy was waving at them.

And then Luffy had turned to him, curiosity in those round eyes of his. “What about you Torao?”

Law could only shrug. Why was Luffy curious on what he was going to do and, besides, wasn't it obvious? And so he just lifted up the hat in his hands before placing it on Luffy’s head.

(The smallest of smiles twitched on his face, showing on his lips and in the way the muscles by his closed eyes moved.)

“I’m sticking around until Ace-ya is conscious. I’m willing to bet he will wish to return to his crewmates afterwards, and I might as well give him a lift. I have some things I would like to discuss with his attending doctor anyway about his recovery and treatment plans. His recuperation will be… long. And hard.”

And that idiot’s smile brightened even more, those closed eyes opening to shine up at him. "Yay! Torao’s staying longer!”

(What was it that Sabo said?)

Why? Why was this idiot happy to spend time with him? Why was he smiling even though he had been through so much? It completely baffled him. Aside from saving their lives, it wasn’t as if he did anything to make Luffy enjoy his presence. If anything he had always ignored them… 

“Wanna tell me about your tattoos? We never had a chance to back on Sabaody.”

“…And whose fault is _that_ Luffy-ya?”

He laughed bashfully.

.xxx.

Law watched Luffy. He listened. Listened as Luffy explained his adventures to him. How Dadan had bought him a boat for his seventeenth birthday, how that was the start of his adventures. How he met Zoro, and wore a marine outfit to infiltrate a marine base to get his swords for him.

And, Law had to admit, that that was a solid plan.

But apparently it hadn't gone out too well. Instead of quietly sneaking around the base like he _should have_ he ended up taking a hostage and ran out of the base, swords and hostage in tow.  
...Mugiwara no Luffy was an idiot, wasn't he?

He talked about Coby too, a young man who wanted to be a marine. (Why _anybody_ wanted to a marine baffled Law honestly.) A young man who ended up in a most unfortunate scenario of being enslaved on a pirate ship. And how he helped Coby appear in the good lights of the marines, because no matter ones origins, they should always be able to follow their dreams.

...Law supposed he really couldn't argue with that logic.

Thankfully, Luffy was content without much input from his side and that all he wanted to do was babble off on what he had done in this last year.

(It only made Law wonder: just _who_ was this young man before him? Luffy was… Luffy was a far contrast to who he was a decade ago…

That tearful, torn, thankful mess at his feet was far more familiar than this bubbly ball beaming up at him.

What had happened?

(And shouldn't he be torn or worried about Ace. And what about Sabo? Wouldn't this be a stark reminder of what happened all those years ago?)

Luffy was going on about his navigator now. Explaining about that clown that had carried him to his submarine.

Huh, so he knew the clown from back then? Well he supposed it explained why the clown knew that the hat was something important to Luffy.

Then he went on a tale about his shooter. Something along the lines of his village being attacked by pirates.

...Wait did Luffy say the _Kuro_ pirates?

“...Didn't that guy get executed?”

Sure, he hadn't been in the East Blue when it happened, but Law always kept tabs on that sort of thing. Not to mention that it was a public execution and not just incarceration.

“Shishishi, that's what I said. Ace and I watched it actually.” He made a face. “I think to dissuade us from being pirates. But Ace left not that long after anyway.” He was laughing again.

Law shook his head. But then again, he supposed they didn't have much of a choice. It was only due to his agreement with his caretaker that he avoided public executions, otherwise he would have gone to numerous ones himself.

“The funniest thing though, was in Logue Town!” Luffy was laughing again. “I mean, after Sanji joined us and we saved Nami’s town, and after my dumb first bounty poster. Can you believe it? I kept telling all the marines I met my name but they decided to call me Strawhat on my poster!”

Law blinked, really, Luffy was so damn different… He supposed that, yes, there were hints of this personality back then but it was masked by grief and loss…

(He probably should have paid those brothers more attention back then.)

“But yeah! When we went to Logue Town, that's where I met Smokey!” And he was laughing again. “Maaaaan, he was pissed to see me. Apparently says it's his life mission to capture me. Of course he didn't tell me that until Alabasta!”

Law sighed. This was going to be a _very long_ conversation…

“Why don't you tell me more about it later? You may be conscious, but you should get some rest. That's the best thing you can do right now Luffy-ya.”

Besides, he knew what Luffy had been up to since he reached the Grand Line.

“B-But Toraooo I haven't gotten to the best part yet! I didn't tell you how Gramps stormed in on us in Water 7 and told my entire crew that the reason why my wanted posters only had my nickname on it was because he was trying to drag me back into the Marines before I got too famous!”

...Oh, Law definitely knew how _that_ would have went. And he doubted that Luffy told his crew that Garp had whisked his grandchildren to be raised by Marines…

(And said grandchildren escaped on their seventeenth birthdays to become pirates, of all things.)

“Well, you've just told me, now get to bed Luffy-ya.”

As Law shut the door, he sighed and shook his head. Who would've thought that that crying, sullen child had turned into _this?_


	6. 6: Unsociable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ...xD Well, you see I had chapters 1 through 7 already written. tldr; I originally intended on starting this story like with Luffy at the beginning of his journey but I really didn’t like that. So the stuff I had intended on having as much later in the story ended up being the beginning. (I wrote it various PoV’s and stuff) Now, when I wrote Law’s portion, I had a section of ‘Insert details here’. But, you see, that was before I decided to start the story at the battle of the great.
> 
> So essentially this entire chapter is filler xD. (Not REALLY but) I was going to attempt to end it where I originally intended for chapter 6 to end but a) it’s already six pages as is and the already-written end is 3 pages long, and b) I still have a lot to cover from the end of this chapter to the start of the other end, and c) I need to do more reading of the manga.
> 
> OH AND IMPORTANT NOTE: I REALISED I FUCKED UP. Originally I was thinking: what if I just continued with my fuck-up, but then decided I like the appeal of staying with canon with that point so: WHERE LUFFY HAS STATED GARP SCOLDING HIM IN ALABASTA, I FUCKED UP AND I’VE FIXED IT TO WATER 7. (I legit just changed ‘Alabasta’ to ‘Water 7′ in my edits in chapter 1 and chapter 5)

With Luffy was in his room (with his crew guarding the door so the idiot wouldn’t attempt reopening his wounds _yet again_ ) Law had decided to check up on Ace.

Upon opening the door, Law had immediately noticed that the medicinal scent was even more potent in Ace’s room as opposed to Luffy’s. (Not that it had bothered him or anything. In fact, it was something he had just happened to notice every now and then, himself being more or less accustomed to it over his lifetime.) He looked at the man still connected to various machines.

Ace, huh?

His memories of the other were similar. While Ace wasn’t as loud or obnoxious or obvious as Luffy, Law saw similarities between them. Instead of crying and screaming it out, Ace had been the type to hold it in, He brooded on it, and tried to be strong for his little brother – but Law could see those eyes. Eyes that were so very similar to his.

Occasionally, would he see tears slip out – whenever Luffy wasn’t looking or he was asleep from wearing himself out – those moments were moments of silence. When neither of them would acknowledge it. And Law understood that all too well too.

 _And_ while Law understood – he never did or said anything about it. He mostly tried to ignore it – ignore _them_ and concentrate on his studies. They both had their own problems anyway…

_“You’re always reading books Torao.”_

_Law glanced up to see wide eyes looking at him from over the book. He sighed, lifting the book up higher to block his view. He never really talked to Garp’s grandkids, so **why now?**_

_“Luffy, leave him alone. He obviously doesn’t want to talk.”_

_“But we’re supposed to **play** with him Ace! How can we play with him if he has his nose stuffed into a book?”_

_…Did that brat huff?_

_Law brought down his book, glowering at the kid in front of him. “I’m **studying.** I don’t have any time to waste **playing** with you brats.” He brought the book back up, continuing to glare at the pages. It was true, he didn’t have much time. By now, he had discovered ways to prevent the ailment from overcoming him, but **just.** (Halt the process, halt the symptoms, turn them back just ever so slightly…) And each time he used his abilities they exhausted him. He couldn’t keep using them every few days. He **needed** to find a cure. He didn’t want to live like this. (It hurt, oh it **still** hurt…) Cora-san wouldn’t want him to live like this._

_(He recalled hearing Luffy scream something along those lines too...)_

_(What did he mean by that? By Sabo not wanting them to live like this? Like what? Weren’t they being taken care of by their grandfather? Didn’t they live in some dangerous place? Wasn’t that what Sengoku said? So weren’t they safer here? So why wouldn’t Sabo want them to live safely?)_

_(Ah, funny, wasn’t it? How all three of them had lost somebody dear to them, and wanted live according to their will…)_

_…But would Cora-san want him to shut everybody else out?_

_He looked up to see Luffy whining to Ace, and he sighed again. “Okay, fine. **One** game. That’s it.” So he stood up, wincing as his leg screamed at him, and put down the book entailing hereditary conditions. One game wouldn’t hurt, and he couldn’t study with that brat pestering him anyway._

_“Yay! See Ace! I told you he wants to play!”_

_Law could only sigh. He’d let Luffy believe whatever he wanted to, as long as it meant that Luffy would leave him alone afterwards._

Law sighed at the memory. That was where he began to see the truer side of Luffy, although did not fully realise it at the time. His gaze went back to Luffy’s room. Yes that was perhaps, really, the only memory he had of that boy smiling and laughing. It couldn’t have just been grief, right?

(He still couldn’t get that line out of his head: What Luffy said in regards to Sabo. Why? Why did he say that?)

Certainly Law knew, very intimately, what grief could do to a person. How it could warp them. How it could take hold of them and essentially rule their life. (Even now. Even now…) And, yes, it was a major factor in Luffy’s overall melancholy moods when they were children…

He shook his head. He shouldn’t be concerning himself with this. It had been ten years – _of course_ any normal human would be able to overcome their grief. Luffy must have gotten over it over time. They _did_ say that time heals all wounds after all…

.xxx.

There was banging at his door. And noise.

 **Lots** of it.

(There was a cacophony of voices outside of his door. Most of which he immediately recognised. Bepo. Shachi. Penguin. And there… the one voice that stood out the loudest It was familiar, but in a more irritating way. And that name. Yes, he knew that too…)

“ **Torao!** ”

…Once again, he must say:

Fucking Mugiwara no Luffy.

He groaned and sat up in bed, hand covering his eyes. **Why** must he harbour such a rambunctious patient?

“Luffy-ya. Don’t make me strap you to your bed to ensure your recovery.”

…The last thing he needed right now was to prepare for another surgery. _Especially_ when he was going to be woken in the middle of his ever-so-precious hours of sleep.

“Torao! You’re up!”

Apparently, Luffy had finally succeeded in opening his door, and he could see his subordinates exhausted states as they failed to prevent this… whatever one could use to describe Luffy at this moment… from barging into his room.

“…No thanks to an annoyingly loud patient of mine.” He glared at Luffy.

And Luffy. Well, he looked bashful. And honest. As if he didn’t realise that it was **he** who had woken Law up.

“Oh, you were asleep. Sorry!”

“That’s what we were **trying** to tell you!” His crew chorused from the door loudly.

Law sighed and turned towards the intruder of his room. “Luffy-ya, you need to take it easy.” He said and gestured towards the bandages covering the entirety of Luffy’s body. “You have taken a great deal of damage, and the last thing **any** us need is for you to reopen your wounds. Or do you want Ace-ya to wake up, only to realise that the idiot he has for a brother died because he disobeyed his doctor’s advice? The brother he almost **died** to protect?”

The reaction was immediate: Luffy’s face fell. 

…Ah fuck. He was probably too harsh there, wasn’t he? He rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

“…Sorry I’m never in the best of moods right when I wake up. Just… be careful, okay? If your wounds re-open there is a high chance that I can’t fix you up again.”

“…It’s okay Torao. No. I understand. Chopper always scolded me after he fixed me up.” Luffy’s voice was quiet and he… _sulked_ out of his room.

…Awkward silence, that’s what this was.

“…Shachi, bring me some coffee. It’s not like I’m going to get back to sleep after _that._ ”

As his crew left and closed his door, Law could only sigh before bringing his hand over his face and through his hair, his head leaning back against the wall.

He was a doctor, **not** a psychiatrist dammit!

.xxx.

When Law had decided he was alive enough to properly interact with people he had found Luffy sitting quietly on the island.

“I’m sorry for waking you up Torao.”

…Was the idiot _still_ sulking?

“What’s done is done.” Law said before taking a seat near Luffy. Not close enough to _really_ indicate friendship, but also not far enough to state they were strangers either. “I was too harsh this morning as well. I just do not like seeing my efforts go to waste.”

He refrained from adding anything further, this _was_ a sensitive subject after all.

Luffy made a sound of disagreement as he shook his head. “No, it’s alright. I've… we've….” He was quiet for a few moments. “I've been thinking about what Jinbei said… and he's right. The way we are now… we're not strong enough for the New World…”

...Ah, was that the reason for yesterday’s outbreak?

“I failed. I failed to protect my friends… failed to protect Ace when he needed it most… I'm not strong enough Torao.”

Law sighed again. Why was Luffy telling him this?

“Then get stronger. That's all that you _can_ do. You're enemies aren't going to be getting any weaker.”

He wasn't this kid’s friend so why?

“Yeah. That's what I plan to do. And what you said today reminded me of that. I can't get stronger if I'm always fooling around.” And, now, that sullen expression faded, only to be replaced with a smiling, laughing face. “Thank you Torao.”

...He was _never_ going to understand this idiot, was he?

“Whatever. If you want to take my half asleep, grumpy ramblings as advice, so be it. It's your life. The only thing I'm against if is you throw it away while you're still under my care.”

“Shishishi I knew you cared Torao!”

...Was Luffy stretching towards him?

“No I don't – and **don't** stretch you idiot! That's how you fucking re-open your wounds! I just… like I said I don't like wasting my energy and if you die because of your refusal to obey doctor’s, I'll do whatever I can to stop you from dying if only to kill you myself.”

That only made Luffy laugh more.

Law just groaned.

“So, you got tattoos on your chest too Torao? I noticed them this morning but I didn't get to ask…”

Law looked up at Luffy who had this fascinated look on his face.

“...It's just ink.” He said with a shrug. What was it with Luffy and his tattoos?

“But they look so cool! Your one hand is missing a few letters though, and your chest kinda looks weird. Like not finished maybe?”

Thankfully Luffy hadn't proceeded to get close to him again or grab his hands… _yet_ anyway. 

“Yeah. I'm still debating on the final designs for my chest and back. And my hands are a work in process. I need my hands for surgery, so, I can only do so much at one time.”

Why was he even telling him any of this?

“So you just started then? Or are some tattoos older?”

Law sighed. Seriously he definitely did not understand Luffy’s fascination, but he supposed indulging Luffy’s whims were the only way to shut him up if that memory was any proof.

“The ones on my forearms were the first ones.” He explained, pulling up his sleeves to show Luffy. “I got them when I was seventeen or so. The one on my chest I had gotten not long after I formed my pirate crew officially a few years later. I've been working on designs since. My hands however are the most recent addition. They are almost complete.”

Luffy looked so enthralled right now that it was kind of creepy.

“And, what about those other marks?”

“Enough about me, you wanted to talk about after Loguetown, right?”

(It was far more easy on his mental state to listen to Luffy blab on about _his_ past than to inquire about his own. That was another reason why he blocked out most of his memories with the Marines after all… It was a living hell.)


	7. 7: Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP, another ‘filler’ chapter. Hopefully the next chapter I’ll get back to the stuff I already had written down.  
> Already have some ideas; oh and it was delayed a bit just due to me being super busy lately!

Due to Luffy’s habit of babbling on, Law really was only paying half attention to what the other captain was saying.

He started where he left off, talking about Logue Town and Smoker, and having to run away due to the fact that the other was a Logia-type user. He also mentioned something about Smoker strangely abandoning his chase before his crew ran off to Reverse Mountain in the middle of a storm. He then mentioned something about a whale and a doctor. About Bounty-Hunters turned poachers.

…Or _something_ along those lines.

There was also a mention of an ambush, or a party. (Or both, he wasn’t exactly paying attention completely. Mostly musing about the doctor – wouldn’t he be a vet? But then again, _he_ was a doctor but he treated a bear every now and then… so what did that make him?) What had caught his attention, however, was the change in the other captain. Luffy’s pace had significantly slowed down. In fact, it _almost_ seemed like the boy was stuttering.

Apparently he was talking about one of those bounty hunter-poachers that attacked the whale.

“…apparently she was a princess under cover?” Luffy sounded uncertain. “And she, uh, had a lot of posters. Wanted posters I mean. Ya know. Like my crappy one with Strawhat on it. And uhh… well…” Now he was laughing. _Nervously._ “She had yours too. I mean… we _thought_ you had become a pirate but… we never found out for sure…” And now the kid was glancing away, rubbing at the back of his head.

….He was hiding something, wasn’t he? God, he was as translucent as ever…

_“Luffy-ya, give me my book back.”_

_Law had put down his book for a moment when he excused himself to use the bathroom, and by the time he had returned the book was not where he put it. He could only remember that brat’s insistence on **playing** with them before and had, logically, come to the conclusion that Luffy had moved his book or taken it. So that ‘Torao’ wouldn’t be distracted by his ‘stupid books’ and ‘play’ with them._

_There was a moment of silence before Luffy looked to the side, lips pursing out as he whistled ‘innocently’. “I didn’t touch your book.”_

_Law groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I know you’re lying. Give. Me. My. Book. Back.”_

_However, there was this glint in Luffy’s eyes now when he turned to Law. (And Law could hear Ace groaning in the background. Something along the lines of ‘you shouldn’t have done that’.) “Or what?”_

_…Was this brat **challenging** him? Law grinned before pulling back a sleeve. “Or I’ll beat it out of you.”_

_…Maybe Sengoku would finally stop insisting that he hang out with these brats after this._

Law wasn’t going to press however. He didn’t exactly _care_ whatever it was that Luffy was hiding. Instead, he just furthered the conversation in hopes that Luffy would just continue to babble on some more.

“Let me guess, seeing my poster confirmed your suspicions?”

And, with that prompt, Luffy had nodded rather enthusiastically. “I was happy, ya know?” There was more laughter, but this time it was less nervous, less strained. “That you were still out there and doing well.” Again, there it was: that laughter. It was happier. Carefree. “And soon we ended up at this really awesome island with dinosaurs and giants and…”

Restraining a smile, Law sighed and shook his head at Luffy’s predictability as he went off on his story again. And so he just listened to the story and Baroque Works, about this ‘amazing’ island, about Nami falling ill and about Drum Island. (Here, he paid a bit more attention, considering that the Drum Kingdom was considered a paragon of medicinal knowledge, and he made a note to converse with Luffy’s doctor if ever an opportunity arose.)

And then, Luffy told him about meeting Smoker, and consequently Ace, at Alabasta.

The tale made him smile ever so slightly this time. As he heard Luffy gush over his older brother. Talking about the Spade pirates, and how he learned that Ace was part of the Whitebeard crew. As he told Law that Ace had invited him to join that pirate crew, but also how he refused because the pirate king _has_ to be the captain. Talking about the vivre card that Ace gave him, and how he didn’t learn about it until Nami’s friend told him about it just before Sabaody. About how it was a compass of a sort towards whomever the owner was, and how it indicated the life force of them as well. That the smaller it was, the more in danger they were.

That tale however quickly turned into a hastily blubber mess that Law could barely make sense of. It was something along the lines of Luffy telling Ace about him and Ace promising to let Luffy know if he found anything else out.

…Law wasn’t going to ask for clarification.

And so he let Luffy continue on with his tale about Alabasta and Crocodile. Smoker popped into question a few times, and apparently a close friend of his. Bon Clay or something like that. Hina, too, was also a subject of conversation.

(Law remembered the names of Hina and Smoker from his time at the Marines, but he never met them in person. They were still relatively rookies during that time, and the only reason their names came up was due to Sengoku’s complaints and platitudes. Those two were on the opposite ends of the spectrum: with Smoker being a mischief causer and often in brawls, while Hina was a protégé of sorts. Granted, not a lot of marines had met him _anyway_ , or even knew of his existence for that matter. The last thing he needed was for Vergo, and consequently Doflamingo, to learn of his hideout within the Navy after all…)

From what he had heard however, was that Smoker had renewed his vendetta against the Strawhats, and more specifically: Luffy.

But he supposed a Marine like Smoker, who was vehemently against the Seven Warlords system, would most _definitely_ be against a boy who was raised by the Marines becoming a pirate.

(It only made him wonder just what Smoker would think of him; being under Sengoku’s care and all…)

_“Hey, Torao, do you wanna become a doctor or something?”_

_Luffy was peeking at him above the book again; face a bit too close for comfort._

_Law sighed and pushed Luffy’s face away, putting down the book – only for a few moments. He had begun to learn that unless he indulged Luffy with some sort of answer, he wouldn’t cease to annoy him._

_“I guess you could say that.”_

_“You guess? So being a doctor isn’t your dream? So why are you always reading these doctor-y books?”_

_…While Law wanted to protest that ‘doctor-y’ was not a word, he decided against it. Instead he just glared at Luffy before responding. “I have my reasons, and besides, it’s something I’m good at.”_

_Luffy made a strange expression. “Well, what’s your dream then Torao?”_

_…Arg, could this boy just shut up already? And what was with him and inquiring about him? Law sighed and looked at the book. “I want to see a certain man punished. Right now, sticking with the Marines and studying medicine are ways to further my goal. If either becomes a hindrance, I’ll find my own way.”_

_There was another strange expression on Luffy’s face and he turned to Ace before standing up, and screaming._

_“I want to be the Pirate King!”_

_Law only shook his head before picking up his book and resumed ignoring the two in front of him, who were laughing and chasing one another. He had heard the boy mumble it enough times in his sleep or blubbering it out through tears that it really hadn’t phased him. This, really, was the first time he had said it so enthusiastically but, regardless, he was ever so close to **finally** figuring out this Amber Lead problem that had been weighing him down…_

That was, actually, the last time he had ever seen those two. It wasn’t long after that when Doflamingo had been ‘promoted’ to a Warlord and…

Law shook his head at that, and looked back at Luffy with his sparkling eyes. Yes, Pirate King. That’s what he screamed.

He wondered how much the Marines actually knew. Did they know Luffy wanted to be the Pirate King? And what about Ace? Certainly the guy had some motivation to become a pirate; he recalled something about infamy being uttered from Ace’s lips from time to time. And considering how sullen the boys had been, that one occasion was probably the only time they had screamed out their desires like that.

Obviously, they didn’t know about Ace’s heritage. If anything, it was probably solely on Garp’s shoulders.

(And, he figured, that he was the only person that was closest to those boys as well, hence why _he_ knew and why they felt comfortable doing what they did. Which, probably was also why Sengoku always had left him in Garp’s care or vice-versa. In fact, those boys were probably the only ones _he_ really interacted with as well. The few other occasions hadn’t panned out all so well. Mostly because Law had ended up beating up those that had tried to get close to him against his will. Even when he spent time with Drake, it was mostly just sullen silence that was more awkward than anything. And while Luffy and Ace had been, well, pests, they seemed to get along well enough that neither of their guardians saw fit to cease the ‘visits’ - or as Luffy liked to call them: ‘play dates.’ Even despite some of Law’s efforts in brawling with those brats, but mostly because neither of them went crying to Garp about it like any of the others. Not to mention, well, they actually held their own and gave Law quite the challenge – some of which he only lost due to the Amber Lead thriving throughout his body.)

And Luffy just continued to babble on as Law mulled on the past and the Marines. About a spring guy, a liar, Blackbeard (which made Luffy’s voice tremor with anger) and about an island in the sky.

(At this point, Law wasn’t about to doubt it. Considering everything that he had experienced on the Grand Line, _anything_ was possible.)

He listened to those tales with a bit of amusement. Surprising, how Luffy managed to defeat _two_ Logia users in a row. The first one, Crocodile, was sheer ingenuity, while the second one being sheer luck. To meet an enemy he was completely immune to? Apparently them D.’s had it in droves. (And, it only painfully reminded him of Cora-san, merely based on the fact that Enel had called himself a God.)

But it seemed that Luffy’s successes with the Logia-types ended there with a meeting from Aokiji.

“He said something about Gramps.” Luffy’s face was surly. “Something about how much I looked like him now. Then decided that that was good enough excuse to start attacking everybody.” And pouty. “Why didn’t he just listen to me and take his walk elsewhere?”

…Did Luffy seriously believe…?

“An admiral isn’t about to take orders from a pirate. You should know that by now Luffy-ya.” Law shook his head at this nonsense. At least that stubbornness was visible back then as well. So _this_ wasn’t too much of a surprise.

“But if he walked away none of that would have happened!” He huffed. Mugiwara no Luffy huffed.

Law could only shake his head again. Just **how** Luffy lasted this long was a miracle…

“Well, what else did he say?”

(Might as well indulge him; it wasn’t like he had anything else to do.)

And Luffy looked long and hard as he tried to remember. “Um… I don’t know. Something else about Gramps, and how dangerous I was. Like he was scolding Gramps?”

Law’s eyebrow rose as he remembered what Luffy told him about Garp and his wanted poster. So the Admirals knew that Garp was pulling some strings? …Or at least Aokiji anyway.

“Oh, was it something to do with the fact that Garp was hiding your true name from the papers?”

And Luffy’s eyes widened. “Yeah!” He was smiling now, nodding. “Something like that anyway. He didn’t exactly _say_ it like that, but now that you say that…”

“So I’m presuming you somehow escaped his clutches considering that you’re still alive now…” Law prompted. He was curious just how Luffy survived against Aokiji.

And there that laughter was – Law was starting to recognise the different laughs that Luffy had by now – this one was the one as if Luffy had been caught red-handed. Or he had done something truly idiotic.

(It was the latter he suspected.)

“Kinda? Basically I made a deal with him so he couldn’t harm my nakama, and then Chopper saved me after he froze me solid.”

… _Why_ did he even save this **idiot?**


	8. 8: Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FAIR WARNING: PULL OUT THE TISSUES. This chapter has been making me cry since Thursday and I’ve read it over multiple times. Really, it’s only a few moments but HO BOY. It hits you like a truck. (It wasn’t supposed to be this way, honestly. Just softly going ow, but no, it’s just VROOM VROOM, HERE COMES THE FEELS TRUCK. OH? THAT WASN’T ENOUGH, LET’S BACK UP AND GO FORWARD FOR GOOD MEASURE.)
> 
> That being said: I’M REALLY PROUD OF THIS CHAPTER. It starts tying everything in together. There’s ‘one’ more chapter until the time-skip! Then i can get into everything heee~

Over the next few days, as Ace recovered, Law learned a bit more about Luffy. About how, after Ace ran away on Garp, Luffy’s plan for getting away at seventeen became significantly more difficult because Garp was on high alert.

But Ace, knowing that his leaving would do such a thing, had ensured that plans were in place and their old caretaker was in on those plans.

(Dadan, wasn’t it?)

Law also learned about Water 7, about Ennies Lobby, about their ship: the Going Merry (and the Thousand Sunny), and finally, about Thriller Bark.

(And while Law knew most of these tales in some degree, he had learned about them in a bit more detail than the papers would like to admit.)

Thriller Bark, however, was something that Trafalgar Law hadn’t learned about prior. Mostly due to the fact that it was a story that the World Government did not want to be revealed. The fact that Monkey D. Luffy had defeated not only one, but _two_ Warlords? That he was toppling their powers left, right, and center? Not to mention he had _just_ induced the destruction of Ennies Lobby…

(Oh, Garp would be peeved, most definitely; but also strangely proud. But, ever since the scenario with Ennies Lobby, not even Garp’s influence could sway the government any longer. Hence the fact that his last name appeared on the wanted posters after Water 7.)

And, knowing what he did now, it only made Law wonder just _why_ Gekko Moria was at Marineford. Shouldn’t they have dismissed him upon learning of his defeat and the fact that he held _several_ Marines hostages? Or perhaps did they decide they required whatever power they could get because they had everything set in place for the war?

No… the government **had** to be planning something. There was no question about that. But _what?_

Thankfully, Law had also avoided answering too many questions about his own personal life. Mostly they talked about his tattoos, and the potential designs, sometimes he talked about his crew. He allowed Luffy to come up with his own (rather sad, actually) drawings and suggestions if only to distract the other captain. Other distractions involved questions about Luffy’s past, or, more simply, food.

It wasn’t too long until a familiar face had waded onto the island.

“Rayleigh?!”

Law wasn’t too overly concerned about Luffy re-opening his wounds by now, and Luffy seemed to be taking his earlier scolding into consideration. From what he could tell, Luffy was a fast healer – and if it weren’t for Ace, he would have left by now as he felt confident in Luffy’s recovery.

But Law slowly glanced up at that – since Luffy _did_ have a tendency to mistake one person for another quite frequently. (He still remembered the tale about ‘Sogeking’.) But when _he_ recognised the Dark King, he startled a little.

 _What_ was he doing here?

“Ah, good. I thought you all had survived.” He was wiping himself off with a towel he had procured from _somewhere._ …Wait did the guy _swim_ here? In the _Calm Belt?_ (After overhearing his brief conversation with Luffy, Law concluded that, yes, the Dark King had decided it was a perfectly good idea so go swimming with Sea Kings.)

“So,” Rayleigh finally looked up to him, “I can see that Luffy here is doing just fine, but, how is Ace?”

There was a moment of tension as Rayleigh turned his attention to him, but he shrugged it off and glanced towards his submarine. He was curious as to why Rayleigh took an interest in Luffy, but ah, regardless… Ace, on the other hand, he supposed made sense. Rayleigh was the First Mate to Gol D. Roger after all, and now that it was known that Ace was the son of the King of the Pirates…

(In all actuality, Law _almost_ forgot all about it, considering he had been dwelling on that boy he remembered in their pasts.)

“He should be waking any day now.” He started. “It’s just a matter of–”

A loud bang came from his submarine.

…God **dammit!** Couldn’t these brothers wake up in a _less_ destructive way?

“ACE!” Luffy took off running.

…Well, time to go do some damage control…

.xxx.

Ace wasn’t happy with the plan. Not at all.

“Why do we have to pretend I died!”

It was Rayleigh’s idea actually. One that Law agreed with whole-heartedly. To imply that Law couldn’t save the damage that Sakazuki had caused to Ace’s body. That he died after all attempts to keep him amongst the living. And for Luffy to insinuate such claims.

“Relax,” the Dark King said, “we aren’t pretending anything, but it’s what the Marines will think. With your brother, Luffy, doing this, not only will he be able to communicate to his crewmates, but it also provides you with an alibi that will give you the time you need to recuperate.”

And time indeed was what Ace needed. He would not be fighting any battles anytime soon, nor _should_ he if he desired to survive long enough to do so. In all honesty, Law was _surprised_ that he managed to fix Ace up and that his patient was conscious. The damage was, well, severe.

“But I’m **not** dead!” Ace winced at the outburst, hand going to his injured side.

See? He couldn’t even _yell_ nonetheless hold any sort of weapon.

And so Law sighed and interjected. “As your _doctor_ I highly recommend this strategy. It takes _weeks_ for most people to function properly after injuries such as broken bones, and still even days for those of you who have an advanced healing rate, but the ones you sustained…” Law trailed off as he gestured to Ace’s injuries. “It will take months – perhaps even _years_ to fully heal. That’s _including_ your constitution _and_ your logia-powers.” He sighed again and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “And that means no fighting. No more injuries. Even _training_ – in any physical sense – is strictly forbidden. Unless you want to end up back at square one that is. Or worse. There are permanent, debilitating injuries or dismemberment that could happen – and the worse case scenario: death. You are the most wanted man in the world, Ace-ya, and do you _really_ think the government is going to stand by and let you live?”

There was silence that greeted him, and Law could remember hearing Sengoku’s voice booming out for the entire world to hear:

“ _We need to stop these devil spawn!_ ”

He sighed once more, rubbing at his temples.

“The Marines are the embodiment and army of the World Government. All three of us know this very intimately. I know that Sengoku was not truly behind this orchestrated development, and I am highly suspicious of what they will do next. You saw the expression of your Grandfather during the war… They aren’t going to stop Ace-ya. Not until they know you are dead. I’m very certain Luffy-ya’s bounty will go up significantly after this, once they realise he’s alive. And you? If they know you’re alive… they are probably going to rival it with the Yonku, or steeper.”

Finally, it seemed that his words were starting make an effect on Ace. But not enough to get him to cave, Law knew that much. “It’s best if they believe you to be dead until you can defend yourself Ace-ya.”

Luffy, too, was watching quietly before he had quickly decided to pipe in. “Think of it like I’m holding a funeral for your old man Ace. Please? I **can’t** lose you too!” His voice trailed off as he bit his lip. “You promised…”

_Again? He had to put up with Garp's insufferable, sniffling, noisy brats **again?**_

_Law contemplated doing something to get out of it, but... he somewhat felt for them. In the sense that he **knew** what it was like to lose somebody that was close to you. **far** too intimately. After all it had been – what – a year since..._

_“Oh, it's Torao again.”_

_...And there that brat went again. On with that damn nickname of his. According to Ace, Luffy had trouble pronouncing certain words. And despite his protests and letting Luffy know he could just use his first name, the brat had decided that his nickname was better._

_...Genocide certainly sounded appealing at the moment._

_Law made a sound of annoyance and just continued to read._

_This had been the third or fourth time by now, and quite honestly? He was tired of it all. Especially when Luffy had the tendency to just start the water works the moment Garp and Sengoku had left them on their own._

_“Play nice boys, we're going to a meeting.”_

_“Ah!” Law sputtered out before he could stop himself. Usually at least one of them stuck around for awhile. Dammit! He didn't **need** this right now! Couldn't he have at least **some** peace and quiet?_

_But the adults were gone, leaving him and the brats alone. Which only meant…_

_“If you so much as fucking **dare** start a sob-fest right this second...” He warned Luffy, eyes narrowing._

_It was Ace that responded, stepping in front of Luffy, his arms outstretched defensively._

_“Leave Luffy alone Trafalgar.”_

_Law scoffed. “Or what? I've **killed** pirates stronger than you.” Granted, he wasn't exactly as strong as he used to be before the Amber Lead started destroying his body, but he could still put up a fight. Apparently his threat took **some** effect from the fear that sparked in Luffy’s eyes and the way he tugged at Ace’s shirt urgently._

_“A-Ace, don't! You **promised!** ”_

“…You promised Ace! That you wouldn’t die! If it wasn’t for Sabo coming in…”

“Arg! Fine!” Ace had turned his head to the side, and Law recognised that expression from when they were children. He wasn’t happy, and that he had been arm wrestled into doing something he didn’t want to do – but he was going to comply. “And _you!_ He pointed at Luffy, eyes narrowing a bit. “I _still can’t believe_ you gave a _complete stranger_ my vivre card!”

Luffy was pouting now. “B-But he **saved** your life Ace!”

And Ace? Well he just groaned. “Fine! Go do _whatever_ you want!” His arms went into the air – albeit carefully. “Oi, Law, do you have a den den mushi on your sub? I gotta contact Marco…”

Law blinked when his name was called. Ah, so the brotherly spat was over? (And besides, if things were as he thought they were… well Ace would be eternally grateful for Luffy giving Sabo his vivre card. Well, if Sabo ever remembered that is.) He then sighed. “…You might want to let me do the talking Ace-ya. Dead men tell no tales after all. You never know who _might_ be listening in.”

Another groan left Ace.

“…Playing dead is going to be _sooooo_ boring!”

Law could only sigh at this melodramatic pirate. It didn’t last long however, for his nickname was hollered to the heavens and a bundle of rubber tackled him to the ground.

“Ugh… _what_ did I say about being careful Luffy-ya?”

“Does this mean Torao’s leaving?”

… _Why_ did Luffy both sound and look like an abandoned puppy?

He scoffed. “I have my own adventures after all Luffy-ya. I’m certain we’ll meet again in the future however.”

And then that pouting bundle of rubber was laughing. “Good! Cause I like Torao and I can’t wait to see you again!”

…Goodness what was _with_ this fool?

“…See you later Luffy-ya.”

.xxx.

“Who is this, and how did you get our number?”

All of this socialising was getting on his nerves – but necessities, necessities. He sighed. “It’s Trafalgar Law.”

He could hear muffled sounds in the background.

“…Is Ace okay?”

The voice was understandably worried. Some rookie pirate kidnaps the man the Whitebeard Pirates fought so hard for and just disappears off the planet for almost a week? When said man was on the verge of death? He just wanted to get this over and done with. “I’m calling you to set up an exchange for the body of Portgas D. Ace.” They should learn some sense of secrecy however. _Anybody_ could be listening in on this conversation, the last thing they needed was for an army to amass at their meeting site with Ace all but out of commission.

He received silence as a response. Some muffled sounds but mostly moving around.

_Seriously?_

He sighed. “Listen, where’s a good place to meet in Paradise? We need to make the exchange quick – the Marines could be tracking this call as we speak. If they get their hands on Ace-ya’s body…”

If Law had to go in with them suspecting Ace was dead, so be it. At least he could go into great morbid detail of what the Marines would do to the body of the son of the King of Pirates to convince them. He wasn’t about to go risking his patient’s recovery for some stranger’s mental health.

“When the phoenix rises, meet us at…” The words were hastily said to prevent Law from continuing his macabre sentence.

And with the instructions given, Law wrote them down before agreeing and hanging up. Then he turned to Ace expectantly. “So, Ace-ya, what exactly is the time when the Phoenix rises?”

Finally, the man laughed. “You’re so damn lucky they figured out I was still alive.”

Law sighed and shook his head. “Well _considering_ I have their damn number, that should have been the first giveaway.”

“Touché, Surgeon of Death, touché.”

Law groaned.

.xxx.

“You know, you’re somebody that Luffy admires.”

They had left Amazon Lily awhile ago, heading towards the meeting point when Ace had just came out with _that._

Wait. Wait. _What?_ The statement made him freeze. He _was not_ expecting _that._

“If you hadn’t left the Marines like you did…” There was a nostalgic look in his eyes. “Remember? When Luffy asked you about your dreams?” The smile on his face was indisputable. “Well… we might have never thought it _possible._ To pursue our dreams that is. Gramps… we both know he had the best intentions but… he was always watching us like a hawk. Except when we were with you or Sengoku. And neither one of us **wanted** to become Marines. Not only was I worried what they might do if they discovered my lineage… I just… I didn’t like the idea. I wanted to be my own man. To become famous of my own accord and not because of who…” Ace’s expression soured and he shook his head. “But, this isn’t about me. It’s about Luffy. He… he took Sabo’s death hard.”

And Law? He just watched Ace.

“I’m pretty sure you could tell that, just by the way he acted. Even now, it still stings him. Look at what he said earlier. It’s just… being with the Marines? It reminded us of Sabo. Of what he did, of what he sacrificed for our lives. And it was that… that’s what ultimately caused his death.”

(Oh, he recognised this. Yes, the way that Ace clenched his fists. The way he set his jaw and that determined look in his eyes.)

“…It’s okay to cry. Luffy-ya’s not here.” Law said simply, glancing away. “…Somebody once told me that, you know. That it’s not good to keep everything deep down within you.”

(He could hear the quiet sobs in the silence that formed between them, but he ignored it. He let Ace regain his composure.)

“I – thank you…” There were a few sniffles before Ace returned to the topic at hand. “…We were trapped Law. Trapped in a place we didn’t want to be. We weren’t _free._ ”

…Was that what Luffy had meant all those years ago then? About Sabo not wanting them to live that way? Not wanting them to be trapped and unable to obtain their dreams?

“And _you._ By leaving, you made him _believe_ again Law. You made him _hope_ and you made him _try._ Especially with what you had said, we had just… presumed you had become a pirate because the Marines couldn’t obtain your dreams for you. You brought the hope back into his life – our life.” Ace had turned towards him before bowing lowly. “And I thank you for that Trafalgar Law.”

…What?

…Those brothers seriously thought…

Law turned away, scoffing. “…I-I wasn’t doing it for any of you.” He cursed himself for that slight stutter. “I have my own goals in life Ace-ya, as you can tell.” And really, _really,_ what had ever happened to those two brothers never mattered to him. “I left for my own desires. Of my own accord. The Marines had just been a stepping stone in my life that proved to be useless to my goals eventually. And, in all honesty? I couldn’t have given less of a damn about the two of you.”

He was a selfish bastard back then, and who was he kidding? He still was one now. Perhaps, not as much as before, but _still._

And Ace only laughed again at his remark.

Which, in return, earned him a glare from Law. “I’m _serious!_ I didn’t even _recognise_ Luffy-ya when we met again on Sabaody! Even when he used that ridiculous bastardisation of my name! The only thing that tipped me off was when he mentioned…” Law glanced away, softly shaking his head. Right, the brothers didn’t know _what_ caused the spots, just that he had them. “…Something only he could have known.”

“I know, I know.” Ace was still smiling at him, waving his hand dismissively. “But thanks anyway. You gave us light in that dark place we _both_ were in. It was suffocating, and constantly reminded us of… Sabo. And then, to see somebody who was suffering like us get out of there? It made us realise we _weren’t_ trapped either, that, if we tried, we could get out too.”

“Tch.” Law could only scoff further. This idiot wasn’t taking the hint, was he? “Who said I was suffering? As I said, I wasn’t satisfied with the Marines is all.”

That all-knowing smirk on Ace’s face made him sick.

“Whatever you say, _doctor._ ”

…Insufferable brats!


	9. 9: Trapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear god. My apologies. I was too preoccupied with Stability and then my Birthday weekend and then I was just overwhelmed by over socialising AND THIS FUCKER WAS TOO FUCKING LONG. SERIOUSLY. ITS 11 FULL FUCKING PAGES AND THE ORIGINAL WAS JUST SHY OF 7. I go die now and potentially work on Stability 3
> 
> Oh and this chapter is emotionally charged, just a head's up.

Being a dead man was boring, Ace decided.

It was more boring than waiting for your public execution in the metaphorical hell. Because, then, at least the public knew that you were still alive. At least they were waiting to see you one last, gruesome time.

The whole world knew.

Granted, the contrast between _then_ and now was quite prevalent. Now? He had freedom – even if it was limited in a sense. He could actually _move_ and walk and talk with his brothers and sisters. He wasn’t weighed down by the sense of the sea. He could laugh and eat and…

But only behind closed doors.

He couldn’t fight. He couldn’t train. He couldn’t even see the light of day. No. Not until he was healed.

He didn’t know which was worse. To be completely denied freedom, or have it tangible on his tongue but _just_ out of reach.

Because the world thought him dead, and it was better that way. Better to be thought dead than to be hunted and defenceless and alive.

(He promised Luffy after all…)

It didn’t mean it wasn’t annoying, or it didn’t irritate the hell out of him. It didn’t mean his heart didn’t ache as he heard the sounds of battle and his brothers and sisters were potentially getting hurt. It didn’t mean he wasn’t **pissed** as hell because his goal **was** to be infamous, and he couldn’t do that while dead. His life was on a halt until his body could recover…

Sure, Luffy knew. Sure, his crewmates knew but…

(He wondered: did Gramps know? What about Dadan?)

He doubted it.

(Honestly, it was probably for the best. Gramps couldn’t keep secrets worth shit, and if Sakazuki found out the _possibility_ that he was alive? The witch hunt would never cease. Just like Law said. Ugh, just _thinking_ about that lava bastard gave him shivers.)

Ace sighed and placed his hand on his bandaged abdomen. He could still remember the pain as Sakazuki’s fist went through him. (And the yells and cries and screams of those all around him.) Sure, he wasn’t at death’s doorstep anymore, but it didn’t mean he was out of his yard. The doctor still hadn’t cleared him ready for combat as of yet. And while he protested and mocked Law when they were alone on his submarine, Ace wasn’t stupid. He was _lucky_ to avoid dying that day. That if it weren’t for a misdirecting blow and Law’s immediate medical attention, he wouldn’t be breathing right now. He still had a long ways before he could even consider thinking about training, never mind an actual battle in the New World.

He hadn’t seen Law since the day that he had returned to his crew. Of course while they had strongly suspected that he _was_ alive, with everything that Law had been saying, they still doubted. The reunion was very tearful before Law had explained the charade they were pulling, and the benefits of it all. Then Law went to have a _very long_ discussion with the doctors.

And before that? Well, that was _years_ ago. If he recalled, Luffy was… what? Nine years old, and he was twelve? (How much older was Law than them? He couldn’t remember actually.)

To be honest, he didn’t like Law at first. He was too broody. Too quiet. Too sullen. (Too like himself.) There just was this seriousness about him, not to mention how cold he had been. But eventually he softened out a bit. Enough for Ace to respect him. Not to mention… well... Aside from his constant complaining of Luffy’s crying, he didn’t make any comments when Ace broke down himself.

If Law had ever gotten his nose out of those books, they probably would have made good friends eventually.

But Law had left before that ever happened, and, if Ace was honest with himself, he was glad that never happened. Because by leaving, Law had been their lighthouse, even if the guy didn’t intend it.

Trafalgar Law had shown them the way out of that shore surrounded by rocks. Well, maybe not the exact path, but he showed that there _was_ a way. Somewhere. And they just had to find it.

He knew Luffy admired Law. But Luffy was prone to finding people he idolised. There was Shanks, for example, and there were other things that left his little brother in awe. Sure, Ace didn’t know much about Law, but… he liked him. And now the guy had saved their lives.

And what the future held? Well, it would most certainly be something. Especially when Luffy finished training…

“Hey, what are you…”

“You can’t…”

“…Off limits…”

There was a bunch of chaos outside, and Ace could hear the scuffles above him, and confident steps walking towards the hatch that was the entrance to his… voluntary confinement.

And so he reached over, grabbing the weapon that was beside him. Risk be damned, he **wasn’t** going down without a fight!

( _“And **don’t** even think about using your logia abilities for the first few months! The last thing you need is for all my hard work to be undone because your body can’t figure out what goes where.”_ )

Damn it. Damn it all! Had somebody suspected that he wasn’t actually dead? Or… were they insisting on entering the space that he had claimed as his for whatever reason?

At the very least self defence was a permitted last resort. He wasn’t going to sit there and be killed…

“Relax.” That was Marco’s voice booming out. He muttered something else that Ace didn’t quite catch before continuing. “What are you doing here?”

He heard another voice that sounded strangely familiar and yet he couldn’t recall ever hearing it before…

“Can I not come and see how he’s doing? Promise I won’t hurt him.”

Ace could hear Marco sigh before the hatch opened, and the beam of natural light shone down. It made him wince a bit, not accustomed to it at all. God, he hated being cooped up like this but they had to go on the move again, and they were vulnerable at sea, and nobody was to know that he was alive…

“Must be boring down here.” That mysteriously familiar voice spoke again as he jumped down. “At least you have some semblance of light.” He said, referring to the artificial lighting around the room. It was dim. Enough to not rouse suspicion.

The man before him wore blue, and he had this stupid hat on his head, a scar on the left side of his face. As the hatch was closed, Ace noticed the man’s hair was blond and…

 _Oh._ Ace recognised him now. Yes, he saw this man once.

This was the man who saved his life.

“So,” Ace said, relaxing a bit and put down the weapon he had grabbed for himself within reach, “you’re the person who my idiotic little brother gave my vivre card to.”

To be honest? He hadn’t heard much about him. Why he never asked Luffy or Law about him, he didn’t know. Probably too busy catching up with Law? And mulling on the fact that he had to pretend to be dead. All he knew was that this guy was a revolutionary and his name was…

The revolutionary nodded, leading against the wall with his right arm. The left one sat on his hip casually. “Sabo. And, hey, that’s not a nice thing to say about somebody who broke into the world’s most secure prison to save you.”

Ace shrugged. “I’m not lying.” And laughed. “If anything, that proves he’s even more of an idiot.” But softly and carefully, his flesh and muscles were still tender beneath the bandages.

And Sabo laughed as well. “True enough. But that kid will do anything for those he cares about.”

Introductions aside… just _what_ was he doing here? Hell, he had a lot of questions for him actually. Like, who was he? Why did he come to the war? What was his purpose?

Did he have ultimatums?

And was that a fucking _pipe_ at his back?

“You look like you have a lot of questions on your mind, Portgas D. Ace. Go ahead, ask them.”

Ace had turned his gaze back up to his face and glared, only to see the sincere smile on his face. Sabo hadn’t made the comment in mockery, and the guy had been serious when he used his name, even though the world knew just what blood ran through his veins…

Seriously, _who_ was his guy?

“Well, what are you doing here, first of all? Come to collect on a debt or something?”

With those words Ace’s eyes narrowed and he fingered the weapon at his side as a warning.

And Sabo? He smiled, not at all intimidated by Ace’s threat. “Unfortunately not.” His eyes were soft, glinting in this mischievous, playful manner that seemed _familiar_ to him. “I can understand why you think that though. Some stranger coming up to a war that had _nothing_ to do with him, risking his own life while doing so, _is_ rather suspicious after all. No, I haven’t come here for that purpose, Ace, I came because… because I _finally_ remembered something…” Those eyes misted over now, nostalgic. As if he was remembering that _thing_ he just mentioned.

Ace only found himself more confused by that. Especially since Sabo knew just what was bothering him. Although, he supposed _anybody_ would be thinking that…

But for Sabo to not have any ulterior motives? It was baffling to him. Why? Why did Sabo do it? And just **what** did the revolutionary mean by remembering something?

Did he just simply forget to do something after the war?

“What do you mean by _remembering something?_ ” Ace asked, and sure, yeah, maybe he was a bit rude and defensive but… “What the hell do you mean?”

Sabo zoned back into the present and he laughed with a nod. His hand went to adjust his hat, the dim light catching on something…

“Did Luffy or Trafalgar ever tell you why I came to Marineford?”

…Wasn’t that what he was trying to find out here? And he hadn’t even answered his first damn question! What was this? Just telling him to ask questions but not even giving him a full reply... Bastard.

Ace told himself to calm down before he became too aggravated.

“No, I wasn’t told much about you, not that I really asked either. And Luffy was too busy blabbering off about Law or _to_ Law. And Law? He was more concerned that I wouldn’t go and do something he deemed as stupid, and injure myself beyond his repair.”

Sabo laughed again. For a man being interrogated, he was quite carefree, wasn’t he?

“Yeah, he’s really fascinated with Trafalgar, isn’t he? You guys are childhood… acquaintances, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Ace thought back to Luffy and Law and smiled, “something like that. He’s kinda… Luffy’s idol. Well, next to Shanks that is.” He only remembered back to Alabasta when Luffy had showed him Law’s bounty poster.

_”Oh! Ace! Ace! Come here!” Luffy was laughing and tugging him along. His eyes were sparkling and Ace could only just wonder just **what** it was that made Luffy’s eyes sparkle like that._

_Luffy had dragged him over to a room on his ship._

_“It’s just right here…”_

_Luffy let go of his arm and started rummaging through a box. He was laughing and grinning. “There! I found it!”_

_He pulled out a piece of paper. “Look Ace!”_

_Ace looked at the paper. No… it wasn’t a paper, it was a poster. A **wanted** poster._

_…The face looked vaguely familiar…_

_He looked down to the name._

_**Trafalgar Law** _

_Hah!_

_Ace found himself laughing._

_“So that bastard **really did** become a pirate!”_

_“I know! We were right! I knew we were right! Ace! I can’t wait to meet him! Vivi said that her book said he was coming to the Grand Line! Maybe he already did? Hey, hey, Ace, could you see if you could meet him? Please?”_

_Ace laughed even more. “Sheesh, the last time I saw you this excited was eight years ago. Well, I **am** on my mission, but I’ll definitely keep my eye out Luffy.”_

_“Really? Oh thank you Ace! Do you think I’ll meet him? I hope I do….”_

_Ace rolled his eyes. Who would’ve thought? “I’m sure you will. Pirates tend to run into one another along the line. If the two of you make it through, you’ll definitely be meeting him later, I can guarantee that.”_

_“Shishishi, I can’t wait Ace!”_

That boy…

Sabo smiled softly. “I see…” He was quiet for a short period of time again before startling.

…What was that guy doing?

“Oh! Right, back to what I was saying…”

(Well, he supposed the _two_ of them had gotten lost in their own respective memories…)

“Well, if you think _Luffy’s_ an idiot for trying to save his brother, you’ll think I’m a complete moron.” Laughter left Sabo – that guy liked to laugh a lot, didn’t he? “The moment I read the paper, I snuck into the nearest Marine Base and onto a ship in order to arrive at Marineford or Impel Down. And why?” He was smirking now. “Well I had no fucking clue as to _why_. Just that I was overwhelmed with this fury and your execution had to be stopped.”

…Well Sabo was correct in that deduction. He was a complete moron. Who the **fuck** did that? Over a stranger no less!

“…But it was that paper that started something. If it weren’t for that… I may not have _ever_ fully remembered…”

Ace groaned. This guy going off on his tangents was **really** starting to annoy him…

“Can’t you explain things straight?” He had more questions than answers damn it! And, of course, Sabo was just taking so damn long to answer, which only created _even more_ questions…

Sabo sighed and covered his left eye with the hand that was at his hip. “When I was ten I was in a tragic… incident and lost everything. My name. My memory. My age… I knew nothing of myself. Not who I was, nor who my parents were. Friends, family… it was all gone. The revolutionaries had found me and nursed me back to health. Sabo… that was the only potential hint to my past, since that name was on the belongings they found with me...” He sighed again, and his hand fell down as Sabo looked at it. “…It happened on a small kingdom in East Blue…”

Ace had to admit that he was sceptic to believe Sabo’s story, especially since the guy had started out with _when he was ten._ Perhaps he meant ten years ago? Because that sounded more plausible, to be honest.

But then Sabo had mentioned a small kingdom in _East Blue…_

(Of course, Ace wondered about Luffy talking about a _Sabo_ character, but… of course it couldn’t be _Sabo._ There was no way. It was far more likely that they had just met a person with the same name, the world was a huge place after all…)

And Ace started putting things together. An accident… the guy’s name…

And he _stared._

He just had to know…

“…How old are you now?”

(Ten. It happened when _he_ was ten and…)

“Same age as you Ace, twenty.”

No fucking way. There was _no fucking_ way…

(Didn’t Sabo say he had _remembered_ something…? That he _now_ knew his age and…)

There was this metaphorical hole in his stomach that had nothing to do with the literal one that had been there a few months ago. He wanted to hope. Oh how he **wanted…**

“But,” Sabo was laughing again, “I guess considering what your mother did, you’d definitely be the older brother, wouldn’t you?”

Ace felt the tears leaving him. How? How could he be **so** happy again? “S-Sabo?” Gods, he **wanted** it to be true! He looked. He stared. At this man. Trying, **trying** to find something – **anything**. Sure… sure, they both had blond hair, and sure they wore **stupid** hats and wore blue but…

The light flicked again on something on his top hat.

_Those glasses…_

“Sabo?!”

“Yeah. Goa Kingdom… sake… stealing from bandits and pirates and…” The smile on the other’s face was almost sad. It was so happy that it looked sad. His eyes were watering and – 

Ace didn’t give a damn about anything else right now, no. He just jumped up and embraced the other in a tight hug.

Sabo was continuing to blabber on. “…It’s still a blur, and I don’t remember _everything_ but – Ah! Ace! You’re **burning** me!”

“Ah! Sorry!” And Ace waved away the flame before rubbing the back of his head. “I’m just… I’m so glad Sabo… You’re… you’re _alive._ You’re **you…** ” There were tears in his eyes as well, but he couldn’t give a damn about that. He stepped back slightly and took a long, good look at his brother. _Sabo… Sabo…_ The smile that was on his face _almost_ hurt, and he placed his hands on the other’s shoulders. They slid down slightly to the side and Ace clutched tightly, feeling his own shoulders trembling.

“We thought you had…” A sob broke through. He could still remember that day… “And when Gramps had heard what happened he… he took us in. Saying something about how dangerous it was and…”

Tears were sliding down his face.

“…Gramps missed you too, ya know? Dadan… Luffy…”

(It hurt. It _hurt_ remembering the agony they had **all** gone through…)

“Luffy… he – he took it the hardest. And then… when we were stuck with the Marines it… it reminded us of when you left with your parents for our sake. Of just how trapped you were and how unhappy and… I know, I **know** Gramps didn’t mean to do it but… we felt trapped Sabo. That **none** of us could obtain our dreams…”

His legs couldn’t support him anymore, and his hands slid from Sabo’s shoulders as he sank to his knees.

“Thank you…. Thank you Sabo… thank you for coming back… Thank you for **living.** ”

A sound notified him of Sabo sinking to his level and he felt arms tightly embrace him.

“Deep down,” he started softly, “I knew who I was. I didn’t **truly** forget. And seeing you in danger? It triggered something in me. Even though I didn’t remember yet, I **couldn’t** let my brother die.” Sabo squeezed him tighter for a moment. “And I’m just… I’m **so** glad that I was able to save you. That… you **survived** that.”

Ace could feel the way that Sabo trembled as well, and he wrapped his arms around him in return, clutching tightly to his back.

“Even… even when I still didn’t remember… I lost sleep, just **staring** at your vivre card. I **needed** to know that you were going to be alright Ace. I needed to see it grow in size…”

There just was something so comforting in the way the two of them trembling in one another’s arms. To know that the other **was** alive and safe and **here.**

And when Sabo had calmed down, he pulled away a bit, hands on his shoulders and just looked him in the eyes. “Back then, during the war, I put together the pieces. I figured that I **probably was** your brother, but I didn’t truly remember. Sometimes… I would have moments where I almost did… where I heard you and Luffy calling out to me as children. I could hear your laughter… foreign voices whispering foreign words…” Sabo was smiling and he let out a gentle sigh and shook his head. “But… I couldn’t… I couldn’t tell either of you. Not when I wasn’t too certain myself, when I didn’t remember. Because I **wasn’t** the boy you remembered, not really. And I couldn’t do that to either of you. Not until I remembered.”

As Ace thought about being told that, he closed his eyes and nodded. Really, he appreciated it. Luffy had taken it the hardest, and of course being the older brother he had to be there for him but… But it didn’t mean that Sabo’s death hadn’t affected him too. He just hid it and let it out in different ways. And, if he had learned that Sabo _might_ have been alive? The prospect would’ve destroyed him. He wouldn’t have been able to rest until he had gotten an answer one way or another… and _if_ Sabo hadn’t happened to be…

It would be worse than losing him the first time.

“Thank you. For that. For **everything.** ”

Sabo was smiling down at him.

Ace brought his hands up, cupping Sabo’s face and brought their foreheads together.

“Thank you, **brother.** ”

They stayed like that for awhile: just rejoicing in the simple fact that the other was alive.

Eventually, though, they parted and Ace relaxed with a laugh.

“I’m guessing Luffy doesn’t know?”

Sabo shook his head. “Luffy doesn’t have a vivre card. When I finally regained my memories, I decided I’d come to you first since I knew where you were.”

A light laugh left him and he nodded. “He’s decided to train for the New World. After what he’s seen, I must say I don’t blame him. In fact, it’s a really good idea to be prepared and a smart thing for him to do.” His brother had gotten himself far, he had strong friends, but the New World was tough. If Luffy didn’t feel prepared enough, then he should train.

Ace couldn’t back him up after all, and Luffy didn’t know about Sabo, and they didn’t have any way to get a hold of him…

“After all, he’s gained a fair bit of notoriety because of Marineford.” Luffy’s father being revealed to the world… and his actions during the war… then what he did afterwards to insinuate that he was dead… All in all, most **definitely** things that would earn one a higher bounty. “I was surprised though that they didn’t reveal that we were practically raised by the Marines. Would’ve given them more fuel to the fire…”

“Show.” Sabo answered far too quickly than he would have liked. “Remember, Marineford was broadcasted. If it was revealed that they harboured and raised the demon spawn without knowing, it would have shone a bad light upon them.” Then Sabo laughed. “Not to mention it would be practically publicising that being raised by Marines would make you turn to piracy. There’s, what, _one_ known example already, and if you include Trafalgar and the two of you, that’d make a total of four.”

Ace laughed. “I suppose. And I doubt that Sengoku acknowledged Law on the battleground, or at least more than just stating that Law was there. He didn’t show us much softness after all. Although, who knows… he _did_ raise Law for a few years…”

Sabo nodded. “I suppose you could say he acted rather professional.”

Ace smiled softly. “But don’t worry about Luffy. You’ll know when he comes back, it should be another year or so, but he’ll make the headlines for sure.”

.xxx.

“You two talked for quite awhile.”

Marco had come down to the lower deck after Sabo had left.

“Yeah… we had a lot of catching up to do.” Ace was tired, but a good tired. He hadn’t had a conversation like that in awhile, but his energy levels were still so low, and it **had** been so emotionally taxing…

“Catching up?” Marco sat next to him, handing him a basket of food. “You know him yoi?”

“Yeah.” But despite the exhaustion, Ace knew that he was grinning ear to ear now. He took out a piece of bread. “…He’s my brother. You know… the one we thought we lost?” He took a bite and chewed on that while Marco chewed on _that_ information. “He didn’t know. Well, at least until a few days ago. Amnesia after the accident. Apparently something Luffy’s dad said was the last trigger to the lock on his memories. And, since he had my vivre card he came to tell me first.”

Marco was quietly watching him as he explained all of this.

And Ace sighed, bringing his head back as he thought about it. About family and losing them and regaining them…

“Marco,” he said with a pause and looked the other man in the eyes, “we need to protect the Old Man’s treasure. I don’t want to lose any more family… I-I can’t…”

A warm hand was on his shoulder now, squeezing tightly.

“And that’s why, Ace, why you need to stay down here and recover. For now, I will do the protecting until you can fend for yourself, and then we can do it together. But we – _I_ – need you to stay safe until then, okay? **None** of us want to lose family either.”

Ace sighed but begrudgingly nodded. “I know, I know, I just… I **hate** being a deadweight Marco…”

“Better a deadweight than dead.”

And while Ace agreed, pretending to be dead _still_ fucking sucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I had to laugh because I totally didn't intend the end to seem so shippy, BUT ALAS, WHATEVER. View as you wish xD)  
> Also: Commissioned some lovely work for this chapter :D It's [here!](https://yumenofude.tumblr.com/post/176889998130/)


	10. Interlude: Details

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a mini chapter. I was gunna post on Saturday, but I’m lazy af and I don’t want to wait.
> 
> It’s slightly differently formatted? And really just a ‘generic’ chapter. It doesn’t necessarily take place after chapter 9.

Captain was the captain always, even if he hadn’t always gone by that title.

At first their little group of people had become a gang of sorts. Kids that were the odd ones out. Kids that were doing their best to survive. Kids that had been alone. Kids that would do whatever it took.

Even if that meant theft. Destruction. Violence.

But the captain? He took these misfits and banded them together. It didn’t seem like it was his intentions, but it just… happened. There was just this _something_ about him. About the way he looked. About the way he held himself. And wherever he went, they followed.

(Perhaps it was his determination?)

It all started when he captain met them. There was just this… _serious_ aura about him. Just this… _something_ within him. (Perhaps he was angry? Because that aura was also threatening. As if telling you that you should do what he said _or else._ )

Shachi and Penguin were idiots though, and didn’t listen when the captain told them to stop.

(And to this day, Bepo couldn’t wrap his head around why the captain stepped in.)

But they learned. And soon they followed. They all did. Some people who didn’t listen, learned by experience. Others? They were smarter, and they could just _sense_ that the captain would cause havoc if you got in his way.

Stop, he would say. And most people did. And if they didn’t, he would make them.

In that sense, the captain was scary. It didn’t always show, and sure, the captain had a morbid sense of humour. Sure, he knew probably a lot more than any of them, or _any_ teenager actually.

But, at the very least: in general? He wasn’t terrifying.

(Most of the time anyway.)

You just learned not to anger him, that’s all.

(When the captain first met them? Yeah, he was terrifying then.)

And most people? Well, it wasn’t that hard to follow somebody as strong and charismatic and smart and strong as the captain. He was a natural leader.

The captain soon didn’t need to be terrifying.

(Bepo remembered, too, when they walked in on the captain. When they startled him because he wasn’t expecting them. When he held up the closest thing to a weapon – his scalpel – and glared at them. Actually, _they all_ remembered.)

The captain had his secrets though – no… not secrets, more like he just didn’t think to tell them. The captain didn’t share much. It wasn’t because he wasn’t trusting (okay, well, _maybe_ at first but…) just more that he didn’t think that it was important. That, and because the captain was a private person.

(They had all backed up, ready to bolt out of there if necessary. That, just because the blade was small, it didn’t mean that it _wasn’t_ a weapon. Their captain _was_ a surgeon and doctor after all, knowing _just where_ and _how_ to use a scalpel in the most debilitating and fatal ways.)

Nobody blamed him however. Nobody thought to ask, really, and it wasn’t their business. One didn’t _need_ to know everything about one another. And, besides, they all had their own pasts and ghosts after all, being rejects in their own way. And they were all friends. Working together, playing together, surviving together…

(But, something was off. Captain was wielding the scalpel with his off-hand – not that he _truly_ had an off-hand, just one that he had a tendency to use more than the other. And, as Shachi pointed out – quite horrified actually – that there was an _arm_ floating around the room. An arm that - _quite frankly?_ – looked like the captain’s…)

The captain was the captain. It didn’t matter _who_ he had been, who he was, or even _what_ he was for that matter. His past didn’t matter. They had been together for too long to judge one another over anything like that. They all knew it, including the captain. Some things, though, _would_ have been nice to know…

(That dark, terrifying glare eased up into an expression of boredom. And annoyance, but not at them. “Good timing. Could one of you bring it over? I’m a little short-handed here, and it _keeps_ floating away…”

The crew all looked amongst themselves – mostly too afraid to move – and so Bepo very awkwardly walked up, bringing the floating appendage over to his captain. And wondering just _what the hell_ was going on.)

Like, you know, if the guy was going to drown if he was in the water for example. Or if floating body parts was going to be an every day occurrence in his life. A little heads up **would** have been nice…

(“Uh…Captain?” Bepo quietly asked. “…Are you _sure_ you’re alright? I mean… your arm… it’s kinda… detached from your body…”

A strange sound left the captain. “Just _wait_ until I do my torso.” Oh, he was making one of his morbid jokes again. “That most _definitely_ be a sight to see…”

…Yes, the captain had **most definitely** left out a few details. _Especially_ when said arm began to move…)

And there was the exhaustion issue. It wasn’t like they needed his entire life story, but they were a _team!_ A crew! Friends! They needed to know when their captain was going to be vulnerable. When he needed their help or cover or… It wasn’t like they needed to know much! They just needed to know when to protect their captain. That’s all!

(“C-Captain… your arm…” Dismembered limbs _weren’t_ supposed to move… right? “It’s _moving._ ”

“Oh, sorry. I can’t control it when it isn’t attached to me. Try to hold it still for me Bepo. I need to operate on it.”

“…Captain?” And when Bepo received a glare, all he could do was apologise.)

Like, for example, a few people on the crew had allergies. Some had fears. Some had things that made them go berserk. Bepo had even had told them that he was a Mink, and not actually a polar bear who had learned to talk. You know, things nakama or doctors _should_ know. Important stuff like that.

Not “Oh right. I ate a devil fruit and I’m curing myself of the poison that is slowly trying to kill me. Now hold still Bepo, I’m almost done extracting out the Amber Lead from my arm. And, _please_ , don’t inhale it – being poison and all. And if you could please reattach my arm afterwards? I’m about to pass out any minute now…”

Yeah. That stuff would have been nice to know, ya know, _before_ they set out to sea.

(And **don’t** even get him _started_ on that fiasco with the Marines…)


	11. 10: Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TIMESKIP AHOY! So, there will still be a fair bit of things that will remain the same. That begin said, any changes I’ll go into detail about :D
> 
> (And please note: I’m going to be writing the next... four or so chapters ahead of schedule, due to the fact that my GF is coming down in TWELVE days for two weeks. So~ In case any of you decide to make suggestions they might not apply until much later/if any of you make comments that might influence my writing. And YES, I’ve had a few comments that made me decide to include a certain line or paragraph or flashback in my stories~)
> 
> (And on that note: I might not respond immediately to your guys' comments -- BUT I WILL IN TIME. I TRY TO RESPOND TO EVERY COMMENT-- at least those that I can think of a response to. xD)

“ _Trafalgar Law…_ ”

Law smirked as the other uttered his name in the utmost distain. Smoker. The White Hunter. The man who despised pirates with a passion.

(Just seeing the Marine made him remember a joyful voice laughing about how he had been followed since Loguetown. About how the man despised him, not only because he was a pirate, but particularly because he was a pirate who had betrayed the Marines.)

The man who would most **definitely** despise him for the very same reasons. (If not more, because _his_ guardian had been the fleet admiral until two years ago…) And that _wasn’t_ including the fact that he had become a Warlord now – something that Smoker was vehemently against.

Of course, out of all of those things, his Warlord status was the only thing that Smoker was privy to.

“The White Hunter.” He greeted neutrally. “Just _what_ brings you to my vacation home?”

Above all however, this was annoying. Utterly annoying. He _didn’t need_ Marines storming in on his plans. Ruining them… He was _so close_ to obtaining his goals he just needed…

At the very least, Smoker’s presence here would be just as incriminating as his, so it wasn’t like the other would report him unless absolutely necessary.

“We have reports that the Strawhats are on this island.”

…Oh **damn** it all! _Those_ were the pirates that Caesar had captured?

(And damn those Brownbeard pirates! Why did they have to use the damn phone?)

“…you have history with him, don’t you?”

Law looked up at the Marine with an intrigued gaze, and listened as he listed off the events of two years ago. Of the Auction House and the war.

Oh, if only he knew… Law couldn’t help the smug look from gracing his features. If _only_ he knew…

“And, by the way, we never have gotten a straight answer from you. What ever happened to the body of Fire Fist?”

 _Of course_ Smoker would inquire about that. Not to mention, if he knew Luffy’s past, he probably knew Ace’s. The guy didn’t trust him. Smart, really.

But Law wasn’t about to go ratting out Ace. He _had_ worked hard to ensure the guy lived after all. And so he sighed, shaking his head, and diverted back to the original topic at hand.

“I’m the only one in this building White Hunter, now if you will please–”

 **…Fucking** Caesar! Incompetent fool! Couldn’t even keep some damn pirates imprisoned while he dealt with the Marines!

Ah, well… he supposed he should clean up this mess unfolding at his feet.

“ _Room._ ”

.xxx.

“Torao!”

Law recognised that voice. That name. (It wasn’t like two years ago, no. He hadn’t blocked out the memories this time. He had no reason to, after all.)

“…Luffy-ya.”

He hadn’t exactly expected the other captain to catapult himself over and just… _hug_ him however.

“Get off of me!” Law elbowed the idiot.

But Luffy was clinging to him and laughing and smiling and…

“Looks like we ran into each other after all, shishishi.”

Throughout his squirming, Law managed to free an arm and he pushed Luffy’s _too close_ face away.

“ **Get off** of me!”

Luffy’s crew had begun inquiring about how Luffy knew him, and thankfully Luffy had let him go to explain what had happened two years ago.

Thankfully, the idiot kept his mouth shut about Ace and about their past in the Marines.

“…There’s no need to feel indebted to me Luffy-ya. As pirates, we’re still enemies. Don’t forget that.”

(He didn’t _need_ this right now, damn it!)

But, he wasn’t lying. Because if Luffy got in the way of his plans…

There was a pout on that damn idiot’s face. A **pout!**

(Right… there was that thing Ace had said. Lovely. Just _lovely…_ )

Then he laughed. “Yeah, I guess, if you’re after the One Piece…”

Thankfully, this time it was _his_ chaos that interrupted their conversation. (Of course, said chaos wouldn’t exist if it _weren’t_ for the Strawhats but, alas.)

And so he directed Luffy towards his crew. He had a clown to deal with.

And some chemicals.

.xxx.

“That’s right, you have history with him, don’t you?”

Law glanced at Monet and simply sighed. Again. Again… Why was everybody bringing up his past with the other pirate?

Of course, not very many people knew of the entire history he had with these brothers. Hell, even his crew probably didn’t know the whole story. They only knew what they happened to overhear. Although, they probably had put the pieces together by now.

Most people assumed that he had conspired with the Strawhat in the Auction House before saving Luffy from Marineford and failing to save Ace. And while Law wasn’t exactly _pleased_ to know that people thought he failed to do something, he knew that one day that would be revealed to be false.

(Whether or not he lived to see that day remained to be seen.)

“You rescued him after the war. If it wasn’t for you, Mugiwara no Luffy would be dead, wouldn’t he?” Caesar’s laughter echoed out into the room. “Just like his brother. Such a _shame_ isn’t it? That not even _your_ powers could save that doomed soul as well.”

Sometimes, no… most of the time actually, Law just wonders why he puts up with this…

(Children… didn’t Caesar say something about those children?)

“What did you mean that those children were bound to return?”

 _…Monster._ Yes, that was the accurate term to classify Caesar with, Law decided as he heard what that madman was doing to those children.

“And what about that Strawhat, Law?” He leaned in, a dark expression on his face. “Hmmm? Will your past… relations with him be a _hindrance?_ I mean, you **did** save his life and all, and wouldn’t that just be _wasting_ your efforts all those years ago?”

Law sighed and shrugged. “It was just a whim. That’s all.”

And in reality, really, that’s all it really was. Sure, he had history with the brothers but, it wasn’t like his history with them played a major influence in his actions. He was far more interested in _Mugiwara no_ Luffy as opposed to _Monkey D._ Luffy after all.

Then that bastard’s laughter echoed out into the room. “Then I suppose you wouldn’t have any qualms if he required… elimination?”

Honestly? Law was finding Caesar’s presence to be overly irksome at the moment. And so, he stood up, propping Kikou against his shoulder. “I will do whatever is necessary.”

“Oi Law, where are you going?”

 _Very_ irksome…

“A walk. If you need me, you know to contact me.”

When he was a far enough distance away, he sighed softly and shook his head at the events unfolding before him.

That **damn idiot!**

Months, _months_ of prep work! Hell, he even had to _ally_ himself with the government to get to this point. Something he was far from proud of – but he was willing to do _anything_ to get this far. And, it wasn’t like he had any real allegiance to piracy anyway – more that it was a means to an end – so if he had to send a hundred hearts to the Marines in order to obtain a Warlord status so that he could lay low in a particular area for a prolonged period of time? So be it. Sure, it left a bad taste in his mouth – not only because it allied himself with _Joker_ of all people, but also because he allied himself with the very power that allowed Joker to run free for as long as he did.

He left the Marines for that very reason.

But it wasn’t as if he planned to remain with that power for much longer. It was only a temporary measure. He was going to abuse the very system that caused him to initially betray it. Because it betrayed him - him and the citizens of Dressrosa.

(He knew Joker well enough that he wasn’t just calmly sitting on the throne. No, Law knew the man was far too twisted to simply revel in the joys of royalty.)

He was willing to do everything and anything of obtain his goal.

And if he had to ‘eliminate’ Luffy (as Caesar so delicately put it) to do so?

It wouldn’t be something he’d relish in. It wouldn’t be something he’d do if there were other options available. (He spent a lot of time and energy rescuing those brothers from the brink after all. Not to mention Ace would be hot on his heels – and Sabo too if he happened to be the third brother and remember.) Hell, even if he only had to temporarily incapacitate him that would be far more preferable.

(He could still remember that face beaming up at him, waving frantically as he boarded his submarine. Could still remember those eyes widening and watering and all but resembling a wounded puppy when he said he was leaving. Could still remember those very eyes flooding with tears of anger and guilt and sorrow and heartbreak at the thought of losing yet _another_ brother. As if it were yesterday.)

But, if Luffy happened to get in his way, if the boy insisted upon remaining there and a temporary incapacitation wasn’t working…

 _Yeah._ He’d put a stop to Mugiwara no Luffy.

He was too close to his goal to give up now.

(And besides, it wasn’t as if he was planning on living to face the consequences of his actions anyway. _That_ would be a miracle of miracles.)

.xxx.

All in all, it depended on that idiot.

In all honesty, Law was waiting for a moment like this. Well, not _exactly_ like this, (a bit too chaotic and unpredictable) but it was close enough. And, at the very least, Luffy seemed to like him, so convincing him to form an alliance wouldn’t be that difficult.

Or, he hoped so.

He could remember Luffy commenting on when Ace had invited him to join Whitebeard’s crew.

_“The pirate king **has** to be the captain after all!”_

Not to mention the little spat the three of them had outside of the Auction House. Luffy wasn’t the man to follow under anybody else. But he seemed to value friendship a great deal. And an alliance was in the middle ground. Two people working together towards a common goal.

(Granted, Law had a few _other_ plans, but… Luffy need not be privy to _those_ details. It was simple hitting two birds with one stone… well more like _one_ bird and a monster, but still.)

Thankfully, it seemed that Luffy was on board with taking down Kaido, so he wouldn’t have to deal with dealing with Luffy. Or Ace, or maybe even Sabo.

In fact, he almost seemed _too_ eager to ally with him.

Because, well, Luffy thought that meant it gave him a free pass to cling to him or his side or his arm or…

“ **How** many times do I have to tell you Luffy-ya! Get your hands **off** me! Don’t make me cut your limbs off!”

(Unfortunately that threat fell on deaf ears as Luffy asked Law to rearrange him or put his legs on somebody’s backside, or…)

At the very least, however, Luffy seemed to understand that Trafalgar Law **did not** like physical contact.

(It didn’t mean he refrained from pouting or whining about it however.)

Thankfully, Law didn’t have to spend too much longer with the other captain. Despite _more_ whining about having to separate.

…Just _what_ did he get himself into?

.xxx.

While Law would have loved to have that discussion he thought about earlier with Chopper, it just wasn’t the time.

They had a plan to enact.

(And honestly, a bit of chaos was good. Distraction – just what he needed to get into _that room._ )

At least Chopper seemed friendly enough. Perhaps once they succeeded in this step, he could have that conversation with the other doctor. He _was_ curious after all. Why shouldn’t he satiate that curiosity in the time before Dressrosa?

All Luffy had to do was handle Caesar and…

–Well… _fuck._

(How… Did Caesar realise? He knew it was risky to give him back Monet’s heart, but under the guise that it was Smoker’s was the perfect option… and it wasn’t like Law would go back on his word.)

He glanced back to the woman – only to realise that it wasn’t _her_ that held his heart. Was it in the battlefield then? Was he holding it while Luffy was dealing with him?

“You certainly have grown Law.”

Ice. Ice cold water. That’s what it felt like, and it had nothing to do with the fact that somebody was squeezing his heart. He recognised that voice. (How could he forget?)

**Vergo.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: Yes. That pun was irresistible. I couldn't help it.


	12. 11: Catalyst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 11! And, yes, writing ahead. (I'm on chapter 13 or 14 right now xD)

“ **What** are you doing here!” Law spat out.

Vergo. _Vergo._

(Oh, he knew now. No, it wasn’t _Caesar_ that had his heart. And, in all honesty, Law would have preferred that. It was Vergo. Of _all_ the people to have his heart – it was _Vergo?!_ )

_”I’m sorry Law.”_

_Sorry? Sorry?! Law clenched his fists and glared at this man. This man that Cora-san held such a high respect for._

_Sengoku. The Marine Fleet Admiral._

_“ **Don’t** be sorry!” He demanded. “ **Do** something!” Law knew he was screaming. “Isn’t that what you Marines are supposed to do?! You claim justice but you cannot see a rotten apple even in your own midst!”_

_Why? **Why?!**_

_“We can’t.” Sengoku’s voice was calm, unwavering. “For that very justice we uphold. Not merely on the claims of a distraught child. We can hold an investigation, but is nothing is found, nothing can be done. He has a pristine record after all – nothing to warrant suspicion.”_

_Law groaned in frustration. “Then examine Cora-san! Surely his blood or hair or **something** was left on him! Examine **me!** That’s all the proof you need!”_

_There was a sigh. “Unfortunately that cannot be held against him. In all respects, Roisinante was considered a pirate, as were you. He was merely doing his job.”_

_“That’s bullshit and you know it!” Where? Where was all this light and happiness that Cora-san praised and believed in? Where? “Then **where** is his letter! You **know** he was making it!”_

_Why? Why couldn’t he **see?** The truth was right there!_

_“Considering that Doflamingo had found out definitive proof that Roisinante was a spy… he would have had that letter destroyed. Listen Law, there is **nothing** I can do, within legalities, except prompt and investigation.” Sengoku paused and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Of course, there is always the option that you risk your very freedom to pursue this in a more formal manner involving courts and judges. If they decide that you are lying…”_

_And Law froze. He remembered. Remembered the conversation between Cora-san and Doflamingo._

_**”That boy needs to learn to die for me.”** _

_And if Vergo found out where he was… if he ended up in jail…_

_“No!” He yelled. No. No. He **wasn’t** going to be a pawn! He wasn’t going to throw away this life that Cora-san **died** to give him… “Don’t… don’t… Vergo **can never** know where I am….” Law trembled and held himself. “Don’t **ever** tell him I’m here Sengoku… If you won’t dismiss the bastard, the very least you can do is to ensure he will never find out I’m with you!”_

_There was silence, a pause, and,_

_“Very well.”_

This. This was the man he spent three years trying to avoid. Because if Doflamingo had gotten word of where he was…

(And apparently that bastard knew he was here for the last few months. Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant.)

“Bring him here!” Law demanded. Joker. Joker. _Doflamingo._ That **bastard!** “Bring him here Vergo!”

(How he wanted to be the one with a heart in his hands. Squeezing. Slowly. Agonisingly. Watch as it was _Joker_ that lay writhing on the floor in pain – not _him._ )

Damn it! Damn it all!

(Resistance, of course, was futile. Not while Vergo held his heart.)

.xxx.  
_  
“Save him. Please. He’s dying.” He begged. Pleaded. “It’s all my fault! Please!” Cora-san. Cora-san. He couldn’t die. No! Not now!_

 _“Take me to him.”_  
  
Law groaned as he fully regained consciousness. He had been bordering on unconsciousness for awhile, and apparently he had drifted off as they carried him out of that hallway…

(Of course. Of course he would fucking remember _that_ when he drifted off. Remember as Vergo beat the two of them up instead of saving them. Remember when he royally fucked up.)

(Remember when he started the catalyst to Cora-san’s death.)

“Torao!”

…Oh. This was just fucking _great._

At the very least, Law was grateful that he trusted no one but himself. That he held onto consciousness enough to switch out a pair of seastone cuffs for regular ones. That he had made insurances to secure his own escape for _when_ he attacked Caesar and, consequently, Joker.

Because it seemed that they hadn’t noticed it, seeing that the sea wasn’t dragging him down.

“…Didn’t I tell you to capture Caesar Luffy-ya?”

Luffy babbled some sort of excuse or story – but in reality, Law really didn’t care. Luffy screwed up. Probably underestimated him or something. What happened didn’t matter. What they were going to do, however, did.

But he wasn’t thinking about that right now either. No, Law was concentrating on Vergo.

And apparently so were Smoker and his captain. They were yelling at him. Demanding answers. Reasons.

Law sighed. “…Don’t be so shocked,” he explained quietly, “and don’t fault yourself. For Vergo never betrayed the Marines. You can’t betray somebody if you were never truly loyal to them in the first place.”

Law sighed, tilted his head back, and forced away the memories that were trying to flood in.

( _Cora-san. Cora-san. His plea. His smile. His words…_ )

“First and foremost, Vergo was always Joker’s man. A spy planted within the Marines. A man whose loyalty always lay with Joker.”  
__  
“The first Corazon is on a secret mission that not even the family knows about.”  


Honestly, it was by sheer miracle that the two Corazons had never met – at least while they were both Marines. That Cora-san had ‘left’ just before Vergo had joined.

And, by extension, it had been sheer _stupidity_ that they had met.

( _“Save him. Save him.”_ )

 _Damn_ it all!

Law glanced towards Smoker – or, well, he _should_ say Tashigi…

He was seething. First it was the fact that he was beside a Warlord and Luffy – the Marine traitor – and now, Vergo was added to that list?

(To be honest, the more sadistic side of him wanted to confess to Smoker just _what_ he was missing out on. And to brag to Vergo that it took him practically dancing in front of Joker for him to figure out just where he was and what he was doing. But, Law wasn’t stupid. Not only would Smoker probably attempt to strangle him in the cell – considering Tashigi’s body wasn’t encumbered by the seastone – but also Vergo had his heart. He wasn’t _that_ suicidal.)

“Joker? Who’s that Torao?”

Law glanced over to Luffy.

“You’ve been mentioning him over and over – so _who_ is he?”

…Was Luffy _pouting?_

Ah… whatever…

“I used to work under Joker myself, and that’s how I know Vergo.” He explained, and closed his eyes trying to keep the memories at bay. “The underground broker is also known by another name: The Warlord, Donquixote Doflamingo.”

Luffy was bound to figure that out eventually – _if_ they succeeded in their plan. And, quite frankly? He couldn’t give a damn about Smoker right now.

“We have quite the whistle blower on our hands, don’t we, Caesar?”

\--The pain – **AH!** “Y-You **bastard!** ”

“That’s Vergo- _san_ to you Law.”

(Luffy was fretting over him. Screaming something. To him. To Vergo. Collapsing on top of him. Whining about seastone. Whispering now… and then saying something about his heart in awe.)

Law groaned as he focused in again.

Luffy had somehow manoeuvred Law into his lap. How or why, Law didn’t know – but he was still to weak to really _care_ at the moment. And while Luffy kept glancing down at him, he was also focusing in on something being projected by a snail.

As Law glanced over to see some vaguely familiar figures running away from _something_ he felt as Luffy collapsed again from overexerting himself _yet again._

…Damn idiot.

.xxx.

“Payback’s going to be a **bitch** Vergo- _san._ ”

(Law let the memories flow through him now. Fuelling him. Fuelling his anger. His _revenge._ Cora-san. Cora-san…)

“You’re listening – aren’t you?”

Joker was laughing at him. Through the snail phone Law _knew_ that Vergo was carrying on him. Of course Joker would.

“You sure your head’s screwed on tight, kid?”

“Vergo’s standing right in front of you, isn’t he?”

“Back in the day – remember what happened to you then?”

“I recall you pissing Vergo off.”

(Law did too. It was a day he _could never_ forget. _Would never._ )

“Ended up on the wrong side of his fist, didn’t you?”

“That, _Joker_ , is one of your major downfalls.” Law explained. “You are so overconfident. You underestimate people and overestimate yourself.”

He closed his eyes for a brief moment and inhaled. “Laugh away. And see where that gets you.” Sure, right now Law too looked overconfident as he explained his plans. Sure, he seemed like he was boasting but—

At the very least, Law wasn’t afraid to die.

“If you _really_ were as powerful and omnipotent as you thought you were… If Vergo was as _competent_ as you say he was… you would have found me _years_ ago Joker.” Law knew he was grinning as he tilted his head towards Vergo. “Didn’t you ever wonder why there was an investigation on you all those years ago? That single blotch on that _pristine_ record of yours?”

Law turned towards the snail phone when Joker had replied.

“Like we didn’t know it was you, brat.” Unamused. Good. “An anonymous tip.”

Law found himself laughing.

“Anonymous, huh? I bet that’s what they told you, isn’t it?” Seemed Sengoku kept his word – even _after_ he left, because certainly Vergo would be investigating that matter. “It wasn’t anonymous. _Far_ from it in fact. However, since I was convinced _otherwise_ to not pursue it, it ended up going nowhere. I did value my own life after all, and I wasn’t about to take the risk over a mere dismissal of your _lackey_ within the Marines. Not to mention, even if it _did_ work, and Vergo had been found guilty, the two of you would have found out my safety net.”

Of course, Law didn’t realise that at the time. Only realised that Vergo would have a clear cut shot at him if he failed. Sengoku, however, probably did.

“A distraught child’s testimony isn’t exactly unbiased after all. Honestly, the two of us _could_ have put you away Vergo.” He turned to the other in that moment before turning back to the snail. “But the life that Cora-san saved was far more precious to the two of us.”

“Two? You’re telling me a _Marine_ took you in, brat?”  
_  
“Law, he’s my brother. He won’t kill me.”_

 _“To think, my own blood betrayed me…”_  
  
“Oh, didn’t you _know_ Joker? Cora-san was working directly under Sengoku. Just like your little minion here – loyal from the start. And he took me in. Three years. For _three years_ I was right under your nose, and you **failed** to detect me. I had to practically dance in front of you for you to _finally_ figure out what I was doing. A bit pathetic, isn’t it?”

“ **Kill** that upstart brat Vergo!”

Not if he had anything to say about it…

.xxx.

“…Why’s Smokey glaring at you like that Torao?”

Law looked down at Luffy as they were travelling in the shipping cart.

Why indeed? He glanced over to see the smouldering gaze that Smoker was giving him. In fact, it resembled the one he gave Vergo.

…Oh. Right.

“Ah, I forgot he was there.” Law shrugged upon realising that Vergo and Joker weren’t the only two to hear him go off on his story. “…Let’s just say he found out about my time in the Marines Luffy-ya.”

And then Luffy was just roaring with laughter. Some strange phrases leaving his throat intermittently.

(Again, again. He could hear Luffy’s tale about Smoker in his mind.)

Law couldn’t resist. Even though he was pissed off that Luffy had ‘lost’ Caesar and they were racing to get to him before Joker could re-obtain him, even though there was deadly gas chasing them… Law was in a good mood.

“So, _Smokey_ , who do you hate more? Luffy-ya, or me?”

A grunt was his only response.


	13. 12: Pouting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 12! I’m really glad how it turned out in the end. PS: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO Plume8now <\- she’s responsible for a scene in this chapter :D
> 
> (Last note still applies!)

Well, _that_ most definitely wasn’t a good first impression to make with Chopper…

(The little reindeer had opened the door, only to scream out and call him a _monster_ , a _murderer._ He was shocked, appalled even.)

And, well, Chopper wasn’t exactly _wrong_ in his accusation, per se, more that he was wrong in the manner of which he came to that conclusion, and just _who_ he was murdering…

Because Law was simply trying to _help_ the kids that his allies seemed so _concerned_ about.

(And he could relate to those children. To know that one was destined for death before they could even reach puberty. Before they could truly enjoy life.)

He had the abilities, so, _why not?_ He knew how to fix them, he _could_ fix them. And, they were allies.

But because he knew his abilities were, well, _disturbing…_ he had asked to not be disturbed. He knew what it would look like.

(Hell, even his crew still had trouble coming to terms with his abilities. Sure, by now they weren’t _that_ perturbed to see it, but they were still creeped out by it. Law didn’t blame them. Floating, moving, living body parts _was_ a disturbing occurrence after all…)

However, strange enough, Luffy was on the opposite end of the spectrum. He found his ability _amusing._ Amazing even. (If that earlier threat-turned request was anything to go by…)

Well, hopefully Law was able to manage to converse with the creeped-out Strawhats’ doctor. He _still_ wanted to learn more about the medicinal knowledge that the Drum Kingdom held. Although, it seemed that that conversation would have to wait until _after_ this ridiculous party thrown by the Strawhats.

.xxx.

Thankfully, it seemed that once Chopper understood just what _exactly_ he was doing when he had treated the children, and the necessity behind it, he had eased up a bit. Still was wary, but Law both didn’t blame him, nor could he do anything about it.

To be honest, practically _everybody_ that met him was on edge, and was not at ease around him. Luffy was, once again, the unusual exception. (Had also been when they were children. May not have liked him when he had been rude, but wasn’t tense or wary around him.)

Although, once the two doctors began discussing their practice, Chopper had seemed to forget about the incident completely. He had become so engrossed in the conversation.

(And Law didn’t blame him on that, for he, too, had become distracted from anything else but the conversation. It was difficult to find somebody as knowledgeable or understanding to the subject of medicine. Sure, his crew knew the basics to be able to assist him in surgeries, but they didn’t specialise in these subjects. Chopper most likely was the same way – if not worse since probably only _Robin_ out of the entire crew could really follow him.)

But there was one thing that Law couldn’t ignore, or just simply dismiss.

Eyes. There were eyes on him. Boring into his back, or into his sides. He could feel the gaze – it was almost burning with its intensity.

And whenever he would slide his eyes to the side, he would see the blur of a strawhat as it disappeared behind some table or chair, or ledge.

(Now, as to _why_ Luffy kept staring at him, he had no fucking clue why. Nor did he overly care. He knew, by now, not to question the other captain’s actions. He was as spontaneous as much as he was perplexing. He would never figure out the other, and decided to not even try. Else he be driven to madness.)

And, even after his intellectually stimulating conversation with Chopper, those eyes remained on him. During lunch. After lunch when the discussion of their plans begun.

And even now, as he read a book as they sailed idly – within a short journey to Dressrosa for _when_ Joker replied. (Law knew it wasn’t an if. Caesar was far too valuable to Joker from him _not_ to.)

After a period of time where Luffy just wasn’t letting up, Law looked up from his book.

“…What do you want, Luffy-ya?”

(The scene that was unfolding gave him a sense of déjà vu. Of back when they were both with the Marines. Of Luffy staring at him while he read the book and pouted before wandering up, and telling him to get his nose out of those ‘doctor-y books’ and ‘play’ with him.)

Law felt his lips curl up slightly as the words came to him. “Oh – let me guess…” He knew his voice had a bit of sarcasm to them. (His own version of playful.) “You want me to _play_ with you?”

Apparently, that was all it took for that still-visible strawhat to disappear, for a snicker to leave his lips and flailing legs to appear in its place, laughter emerging from the area after a _thump_ sounded as the other captain buckled over.

They got more than a few looks…

(And Law could hear the whispering to. Something about being surprised that he had made a joke. And also trying to figure out just _what_ that joke was, and what he had said that made the captain, quite literally, roll on the floor in laughter.)

As the other captain was still reeling, Law turned back to his book and returned to his place on the page. “As I recall, I do believe I _did_ say that it was a one time deal, Luffy-ya.”

And, from that laughter there was a long whine. A long whine of that ridiculous nickname that Luffy gave him all those years ago.

“…I _suppose_ we could talk, however, if you desire Luffy-ya.”

That was all it took for an enthusiastic nod and a rambunctious captain to be directed his way. And Luffy hastily sat down, close – a bit _too_ close for comfort – but thankfully wasn’t touching him. (He supposed that this was the most he could expect from the other…)

“So,” Luffy was humming, bouncing back and forth, “you became a Warlord?”

And Law just nodded. Perhaps this conversation would go similar to the ones that had occurred on Amazon Lily with Luffy going off on his own tangents, and Law not having to input much. He hoped so.

“Why?” And that head tilted. “Why’d you do it? And how’d you get to get the title?”

…Now he had a question himself: Just _why_ did Luffy sound so excited right now?

“I mean – didn’t you leave the Marines? So—”

Law sighed. Honestly, he didn’t want Luffy to go too far down that trail of thought. “…You do realise that despite my status – that is most certainly at risk right now – as a Warlord does not negate the fact that I am _still_ a pirate Luffy-ya.”

Luffy tilted his head the other direction.

“Warlords are allied with the government–”

“No!” Luffy interjected. “You’re allied with _me!_ ”

(Again, again that damn idiot was pouting. Seriously, what the _hell?_ )

“…That’s the point I _was_ going to bring up Luffy-ya…” Law sighed and shook his head. “That _because_ I have allied myself with you – it is not something a Warlord _should_ do. Now, _if_ I took you under my wing as an underling,” here, Law just clamped his hand over Luffy’s mouth to continue because he _knew_ the other would object once more, “it would be a different story. But I’m _not._ ”

Thankfully after his finished statement, Luffy had relaxed under his hand, and he gently moved it away, hands lingering on his.

“…So, why did you ally yourself with me?”

And those fingers were now almost _clinging_ to the hand they were still holding onto.

Law glanced down at their hands silently. Was Luffy expecting a certain answer? Perhaps begging him?

Alas, if Luffy didn’t like his answer, so be it. He wasn’t about to fabricate lies to satiate his childish ally.

“…Because the only reason I allied myself with the government was to gain access to a certain room, and to Caesar. Something that I couldn’t do as a regular pirate – having to constantly be moving to avoid capture.” (There were other reasons too. Far more personal ones that not even his crew truly knew either. Not that he planned for anybody to. Even Sengoku didn’t know the entirety of it all.) 

And Law felt those fingers loosen around his hands, although when he pulled his hand back he didn’t know if it was out of relief or despair. 

“I allied myself with you because you were there Luffy-ya.”

And he found himself rubbing at the hand that Luffy had clung to. Why had he done that?

“I needed an ally, Luffy-ya, and you fit the bill.” Perhaps, maybe, his honesty was harsh. Perhaps, maybe, it hurt. He thought back to what Ace had divulged to him. But, perhaps he could lessen the blow a little? “And, besides, it’s not like it was back when we were kids – beating one another up over the most simplistic things. We do seem to get along after all. And, considering that, I thought that you might agree.”

Perhaps it was more like Law was able to put up with Luffy’s antics because he had gotten used to them years ago, and… well… being idolised really didn’t add any negatives to his chances with having an ally.

(And, honestly? It still baffled him. Not that he was really using that against Luffy or anything. If Luffy had just shown a genuine liking to him, he probably would have attempted it either way.)

Because, considering that Luffy would accept, and that Law wouldn’t attempt to kill his ally, it seemed that the alliance would work.

All in all, a simple solution.

One that he hoped would succeed.

Luffy was laughing softly now at the response. His hands were folded across one another and at his chest.

“So,” he continued, “what did you do to become a Warlord, Torao? I learned about Boa and Jinbei, and how they became ones – but what about you?”

(Right… Law had to remind himself that Luffy had this strange tendency to know most, if not all, of the Warlords. And, sure, a few of them had been _former_ Warlords, but still the point still holds.)

“Sent the government hearts of wanted pirates using my ability. A simple task, really.”

The way that Luffy was looking at him currently was an expression of awe. “ **Cool!** ”

…Of course. _Of course_ Luffy would think that.

“I don’t know what they did with those hearts – and quite frankly, I don’t care. As long as I gained the seat, that was all that mattered.”

And Luffy was laughing. Smiling, and just looking so damn happy.

“You’re a guy who will do anything to get what you want, aren’t you Torao?”

Law really wasn’t too certain how to feel about this – about somebody not holding an ounce of fear towards him. He didn’t know if it was refreshing, or irksome.

“Hey, hey. When did you eat that _cool_ Devil Fruit Torao? I mean… I didn’t see you cutting people up back then – and wouldn’t you have tried to cut me up instead of punching me too?”

…What was it with Luffy and his questions? Why couldn’t this be a reiteration of the last time they talked? With Luffy being the one who talked and talked, and Law being the one who just simply nodded and hummed in response?

“To be fair,” he looked pointedly at the other, “I didn’t see you using your abilities either. And you most definitely had them back then.”

Luffy pursed out his lips. “…I still hadn’t mastered them. Most of the time I could get tangled up in or around something.”

(…That was an _amusing_ mental image. That little book-stealing brat tangled up in the scaffolding of whatever room their caretakers left them in? …Not that he was going to go admitting that aloud however.)

“Exactly.” Speaking of books, Law fingered the page of the book he had in his lap. In all honestly, he was tempted to just _close_ the book as he wasn’t paying much attention to it anymore. But, he knew. He knew that that would be virtually an invite to Luffy – one he didn’t want to send. The book was a barrier. A form of protection that he could hide behind whenever he so chose. “I had eaten the Devil Fruit about a year prior to meeting you.” He _didn’t_ mention that if he hadn’t eaten the fruit, Luffy wouldn’t have even had a chance to meet him. “I had a tenuous grip on the abilities as it were. They are taxing to use as well. The price to pay, I suppose, for a fruit that is considered the paragon of Paramecia types.”

(Such a shame, he figured. If only a person with a cleaner record could have obtained this fruit. Just _how many_ lives could he have saved if he wasn’t motivated and driven solely by revenge?)

“And, so, I wasn’t about to go wasting the abilities on the two of you brats. I had better uses of the ability.” Like, prolonging his life for a few more days, for example.

…Luffy was pouting again.

“You said that before. When I bugged you to play.”

Law shrugged. “It was the truth. I was a pretty nasty kid Luffy-ya. As I said earlier – I was a part of Joker’s crew when I was younger. Back then, I was nastier than when you knew me.” (Cora-san changed that. With his smile. His laughter. His… _love._ ) Law focused down at his book – contemplating using it as an escape route. “You guys were just kids that Sengoku stuck me with when he was busy. Nothing more.”

Luffy fell quiet for a bit. Looked down at the deck, drawing something with his finger. It wasn’t _quite_ pouting, but it was pretty damn close to it.

“…You were just doing what you had to right?” He hadn’t looked up from the deck, or his invisible doodling. “To get to your dream, right? Just like now.” But then, Luffy looked up at him, a smile beaming up. “You’re determined Torao, and that’s what makes you, you.”

…He wasn’t ever going to understand this creature that was Monkey D. Luffy. Never.

(Especially when the idiot decided he was going to jump him again.)

“ **Luffy-ya! I said _don’t touch me!_** ”


	14. Not a chapter

Hello, Yes I know it's been two weeks since I updated! I just wanted to let you all know I'm taking a break because my arms are acting up. (I will usually post things on my tumblr. I'll also look into adding a tag for that and a quick link for you guys)

They should hopefully be fine shortly - it started up Monday last week - and have gradually been getting better.

Just to let you all know! (Ps my tumblr is petite-neko)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update as of July 4th: New injury and cannot sit for prolonged peroids of tine. Getting chapters as rough drafts for now and I'll type things up eventually


	15. 13: Determination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Again, my apologies for the long hiatus. Thank you all for your patience and get wells.
> 
> In case any of you were wondering: Well, after my arm went out on me, and with my girlfriend visiting and lawlu week occurring, well, I fractured my leg a week later. It kind of killed my inspiration, on top of being doped up on painkillers and exhaustion. And I also couldn't really sit for prolonged periods of time. My life pretty much was: Wake up, go to work, get home and go back to sleep.
> 
> I'm back now -- although my posts might still be hit and miss because I'm still having trouble with inspiration. I'll try to get back to weekly updates however!
> 
> (I've also added a tag on my tumblr about any updates on writing. So if there's delays, etc. it will be in the tag! I'm petite-neko there!)

_“Torao!”_

Law started up at the stars that lit up the night sky as Luffy’s voice reverberated in his mind.

_“Torao!”_

Ever since the little discussion they had, Luffy hadn’t left his side. Like it had been on Amazon Lily. Pestering him. Laughing. Smiling. Calling his name and once attempted to drag him away until Law tore his hand away. (Although he still followed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be shown things, but he hated the physical touch. And, no, that damned pout on Luffy’s face had no influence on the matter.)

_“Torao!”_

The guy was _such_ a clingy bastard – even if he finally seemed to understand that he couldn’t _physically_ be clingy. (Well… _most_ of the time.) In fact, Luffy had given him the grande tour of the ship. From the observatory to the workshop. Although, there was one room that he hadn’t been shown. (Law had noticed that they had skipped over it at first. And apparently Luffy had noticed that he had noticed before babbling some nonsense about Nami. From that, Law was able to understand that that was probably their treasure room. Although… there _definitely_ had been something Luffy was being elusive about. His transparency hadn’t changed in the last two years – although _should_ he have expected it to? It hadn’t changed in twelve years either.) Law didn’t pry however. In fact, he only really allowed the tour itself because Luffy had been so insistent on it, and that it was a way to pass the time.

And, eventually, the sun had set. But not without yet another insistence from his new ally.

_“We have an extra bunk for you to sleep on!”_

Law declined the invite of joining the crew in the men’s quarters however. The aspect of sleeping around so many other _strangers_ was daunting in of itself. Certainly, yes, Luffy didn’t fit into that category, but the others? _Most definitely._

Probably, he could trust Luffy’s crew, considering that his crew _seemed_ well mannered and respectful of their captain’s wishes and happiness. (Which, going against him would certainly negate those two things.) But the fact remained: _he didn’t know them._ And sleeping in such close quarters with people he didn’t know unnerved him.

Not to mention he was far too accustomed to sleeping in only his own company. Back on the Polar Tang he had his own room. Punk Hazard, too, was a private room, even if it was more than likely recorded by the security cameras.

(And, hell, if it weren’t for the obvious connotations and if Luffy had his own quarters, Law wouldn’t have been _too_ opposed to sleeping in the same room as the other captain, trust wasn’t an issue at all here. But, he’d still rather have his own area, or in this case, an area open enough that his personal space wasn’t invaded. Not to mention, Luffy would have probably done something stupid or ridiculous – like wrap his entire fucking body around ‘Torao’. Already, the younger man was pressing in on his space far too much for comfort. Who _knew_ what the idiot would do while he was _unconscious_ of all things?)

So yes, while he trust Luffy and _knew_ Luffy well enough, Trafalgar Law would much rather sleep on the bench under the tree.

…Although, just _how well_ did he know Luffy, truly?

(His mind rewound to when that _idiot_ tackled him back on Punk Hazard.)

Certainly, he hadn’t been expecting _that._ It was new. Or, at the very least _different._ Because back on Sabaody when they had reunited, Luffy hadn’t been _that_ exuberant. (Well… he was pretty excited but, obviously not enough to tackle him in the Auction House. Just enough to blab on and try to take his hand.) Maybe an excited wave, some laughter, and some attempt at a hand shake. Not to be tackled while he was battling Marines.

That in of itself was baffling.

And so while yes, yes they had history with one another, yes Luffy told him about his adventures as a pirate, and yes it was he who saved Luffy and his brother’s lives when they would have otherwise, it was not as if he really _knew_ the other captain. As children, he didn’t bother to really interact much with the child Luffy had been. (The child he had simply been _stuck_ with.) And even though they had been together for awhile on Amazon Lilly, it was Luffy who did most of the talking and story telling. It wasn’t he who said things, while Luffy _reacted._ No, he had just nodded and hummed in response. Not to mention that while, sure, he _had_ taken an interest in this particular pirate’s career, it wasn’t as if he exactly _studied_ it.

If anything was to be reassuring however, was that there wasn’t _much_ to Mugiwara no Luffy. He was transparent, and, aside from the few things here and there (which, in all probability, was miniscule in nature) he kept no secrets. Nothing about Luffy spoke of major secrets or plans or schemes. That if he wanted to do something, he would just _do it._ And if he didn’t? Well, he refused to do it.

_“You’re a guy who will do anything to get what you want, aren’t you Torao?”_

Law resisted rolling his eyes as he remembered Luffy stating that. It wasn’t as if _he_ had influenced Luffy’s behaviours. No, that was something that Law had begun to realise all those years ago about Luffy. That was just _who_ Luffy had been his entire life. In fact, imaging a Luffy who _wasn’t_ like that was…

_“I don’t **want** to!”_

_The young child was seemingly hiding behind Garp’s legs, sticking his tongue out defiantly. And while the action was, well, **immature** the child – Luffy – seemed to be unmoving. A determination shining in his eyes._

_“Luffy,” Garp sighed and placed his hand behind Luffy’s head, ushering him forward, “this will be good for you.”_

_And Luffy was fighting him, clinging to his legs as he was being pushed forward. There was something… **off** about it but Law was quickly distracted by the expression Garp was wearing._

_It was torn. Sad even. There was a pain behind his eyes as he looked down at Luffy. “Luffy, you need to start interacting with other kids again…”_

_Law’s gaze switched back to the kid. While, at first, he had just been trying to look as if he was paying attention, the ever-changing expressions on Luffy’s face had indeed caught his attention. And now? Now that defiant, proud expression had faded. Those shoulders had fallen and his head had faced the ground._

_“…Okay Gramps…”_

_The way that the boy had just easily gave in unsettled his stomach in a way he didn’t quite understand, but Law pushed that away and knelt a bit, deciding to just finish this up._

_“I’m Trafalgar Law.”_

Law closed his eyes and shook his head.

…Okay, _maybe_ he knew Luffy – or at the very least, a side of Luffy – in ways not very many people did. But that wasn’t the entire story. That wasn’t the whole of who Luffy _was._ It wasn’t the smiling, bubbly, spontaneous side of the captain that he had only begun to realise two years ago. And, sure, okay, Law had a general understanding of _who_ that was. Of how unpredictable and crazy he was. Of how Luffy and plans mixed as well as oil and water did. But there were still those few peculiar things, those things that Law still had yet to learn about his ally. For one, he didn’t know how _affectionate_ Luffy could be. Or _clingy._ (And, in his opinion: it was _annoying_ as hell.) And then there was that whole idolisation thing that Ace had shocked him with. (Even now, it was still baffling.)

At the very least, they still seemed to get along, and Luffy still seemed to enjoy his company…

And him? Well, Law was glad to have somebody he could trust. Could have that somebody help him achieve his goal. (Even though he wasn’t exactly willing to _tell_ him that this was his goal. The one he fought for. The one he _lived_ for.) It was _nice_ to have somebody from his past not triggering horrendous memory after memory. It was _refreshing_ to have somebody treat him as an _equal._ Not look down or up at him enough to put them on different levels. Especially when he was about dive deep into the pile of shit that had, quite literally, shaped his life.

(The Marines. Cora-san. Doflamingo. His disease. Flevance…)

And, sure, yeah, he _didn’t_ tell Luffy the entire truth, and was misleading him as to the objectives of what they were going to do, but as he said before: Luffy and plans did not mix. Nor did Luffy and secrets. (And the **last** thing he needed was for Doflamingo to figure out just **what** he was up to.) And he didn’t exactly trust Luffy _fully._ He couldn’t. (It wasn’t a fault of Luffy’s – no. It was one of his. He had been fed lies and betrayal his entire life.) So while Luffy was so obviously trying to _help_ him and be _friends_ with him, Law couldn’t dive in head first as the other did. And hence the guise of bringing down Kaido. Luffy desired to be the Pirate King after all.

As he thought back to their discussion about their alliance, Law found himself almost chuckling. It had gone in a strange direction due to Luffy’s outburst. He _hadn’t_ intended on making Luffy appear responsible for the apparent loss of his title, because he, quite frankly, couldn’t care less. (Because he was just using the Government. Fighting fire with fire. Just like he had with the Marines.) In fact, retrospectively speaking, it was actually _quite_ hilarious that Luffy was impacted in some way for _both_ events involving the Government or the Marines. (Although being the cause for the latter and an effect for the former.)

Law sighed and looked up at the stars again, not realising that his gaze had wandered over towards the door leading into the men’s quarters.

A lot had changed in two years, hadn’t it? And yet, many things still seemed to stay the same. Back then, it was Law who was Luffy’s saviour, and now – he supposed that in a sense it was Luffy who was helping _him_ , even if he didn’t truly realise to what extent. Their roles reversed, although _he_ truly didn’t mind. Even despite what had happened during the War of the Great, Law did not view Luffy as weak or helpless. (In fact, it was the complete opposite. Not _anybody_ would go to challenge the world alone like that _and_ come out alive – even if severely injured in the process.)

(And, of course, there was the situation with Sabo – but Sabo was a _different_ story. They were still very much green behind the ears, not even knowing about the New World until days before the war, while Sabo was far more experienced and accomplished than they. A man who had survived in the chaos that was the New World, a man who had access to abilities they had only just _begun_ to grasp at the concept of…)

Along with the tentative trust Law held for Luffy, respect was beside it. A healthy dosage that told him: Luffy as an enemy would be a very, _very_ , bad idea. But Luffy as an ally? Well, that was an interesting prospect indeed.

(One which, given his personality, could go _very_ wrong, _very_ fast. But Law was willing to take that risk.)

And now, now Luffy was his ally.

_“…So, why did you ally yourself with me?”_

As he remembered the expression on Luffy’s face and his tone, he found himself staring at the hand that the other captain had clung to. Why? Even now, he couldn’t quite understand just _what_ was going through Luffy’s head at that moment. (Yet _another_ thing he did not know.) Why had he looked that way?

…Whatever, it wasn’t something he should be concerning himself with _anyway._ Because, despite the respect he held for Luffy, his own goals still came first.

He was a selfish bastard after all.


	16. 14: Saviour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So this is a longer chapter. Mostly I wanted to get Dressrosa just out of the way.
> 
> Please note .xxx. is a scene skip.  
> .+++. is a PoV skip.
> 
> I am sorry if this chapter is clunky and jumpy and doesn't flow well but I hope it's okay >< Do let me know guys.

Koala was going off about stuff they had already been over about a dozen times.

Sabo, of course, was only half listening to her - his mind still mulling on the strange occurrence from this morning and afternoon. A newspaper and ships...

It had been chaos - it _was_ chaos - before life had... simply returned to normal. It was disturbing - an echo of his past - to say the least. Disturbing to see just **how** much control somebody like Doflamingo had over his people. How much they depended on him… How much they _trusted_ him...

Certainly, he couldn’t rule out the possible that they just **feared** the man...

(But that - this - wasn’t their mission here. They were not here to investigate the possible corruption of this kingdom. Not even if Sabo could feel vibes that things _weren’t quite right._ Vibes that reminded him of a place he once called _home._ Of the nobles dealing with the _trash._ No, they were here about illegal weapons, about chemical warfare, about the fate of _several_ countries.)

“Gezz Sabo! You’re ignoring me again, aren’t you!”

When he glanced up at his partner, her cheeks were puffed out as she wore that huffy expression that she always wore around him...

“You just finished stressing the importance of how we need to stop the import of weapons to ensure that the wars in the North Seas ceases...” He knew he sounded bored but he didn’t care. “...Or something along those lines...”

Her angry expression made him grin.

“That was _five minutes_ ago Sabo! You **really** need to start--”

 _She_ really needed to **stop.** He held up his hand to interrupt her and took a big bite of his lunch. “Li-b-n K-la.” He sputtered around the food and then swallowed. “There’s something going on in this country...” He knew it wasn’t their mission but, it was what his gut was telling him. “And it’s not just the black market deals.”

And, if there was one thing Sabo always trusted, it was his gut.

“Damn you Sabo - get back here!”

.xxx.

One of the things he had heard being discussed was a tournament. Well more specifically a prize. Perhaps Hack knew more. There was quite the buzz about it.

While he knew it might not lead anywhere - Sabo knew how slimy governments tended to work.

When he finally ran into the fishman, he got the answer to his question:

A Devil Fruit.

“But - that isn’t the main reason challengers from across the New World are flocking.” Hack continued. “There are whispers that it could even be the Mera Mera no mi.”

“ ** _What?!_** ”

(A smile flashed in his mind. A freckled face and mischievous eyes. And then the war: the cries of pain and **so much red.** Of a dark storage room and bandages and tears and _Ace you’re burning me!_ )

He found his hands trembling. No! No! He **would** have known right? Ace couldn’t be dead. He **couldn’t!** No, it would have been all over the news. Trafalgar Law and Mugiwara no Luffy’s efforts in vain... The son of Roger almost escaped death! Or... Or did he die during his recovery? Did something go terribly wrong...? Ace was still in bandages and hurt and.... He forced himself to calm down as that last memory resurfaced before he remembered: He had Ace’s vivre card. That was _how_ he got there in the first place.

He let out the breath he hadn’t known he was holding.

There - there it was. Tucked away as usual. There and intact and bigger than before. Ace was alive. Ace was alright. Ace was thriving. Ace was getting better.

“ _Lies._ ”

Perhaps this _was_ a lead after all...

“But **why?** ” Just **what** did Doflamingo have to gain by insinuating that he had the devil fruit of the son of Roger? Did Doflamingo know they were here? Did he suspect anything between him and Ace because of the war? Or... perhaps was he trying to **mock** him for his supposed failure. Of how he had tried and ‘ _failed_ ’ to save Ace from Sakazuki’s attack? Trying to say: Ace died and I have his Devil Fruit.

Out of all of those scenarios, really the last one was the only one that made sense. Doflamingo _couldn’t_ know about their kinship. _He_ didn’t know back then. He only found out afterwards... After hearing Dragon mutter words he had once said to him so long ago.

And even then, only the Army knew. Only Ace. Perhaps, maybe even his crewmates. Nobody else knew. Not even Luffy of all people.

But then again, nobody really knew where his little brother was except on some island covered in snow....

Allied with _Torao_ of all people....

.+++.

“Luffy is attacking the castle!”

Ever since the bastard had shot him Law had been having difficulty staying conscious. The last thing he truly remembered was Luffy crying out his name. However, after hearing those words his spite had given him a surge of energy to keep him awake. It was _amusing_ as he thought about it now... As he saw Doflamingo’s plans fall apart one by one.

Of course, considering Ace’s absence from the limelight, Law _almost_ couldn’t blame him.

Almost - but the bastard prided himself on his fool-proof plans.

(Didn’t he know Luffy and plans just didn’t fucking mix?)

“Then **who** the hell is battling in the coliseum?!”

Law forced his eyes open to glance at the scene painted by the snail on the wall, to see the horrible alias of ‘Lucy’ battling fighting fish. Oh. No. That wasn’t Luffy at all. No, he recognised that stance _anywhere._

That was Sabo.

Law couldn’t help it - he laughed even if it hurt.

“And just **what** is so hilarious Law?”

His plan was so obvious now. Doflamingo had expected Luffy to abandon him. Abandon him for his not-dead brother’s not-Devil Fruit. Law was just some ally who had saved his life. Certainly his brother’s devil fruit meant more to the pirate than him.

Oh wrong - just how _wrong_ Doflamingo was.

Instead what he had received was both of Ace’s brothers’ (because that’s the only reason why Sabo would be in there, fighting for Ace’s safety or honour) wrath. Received Luffy’s fury at injuring and kidnapping his _idol._ (Still, a foolish notion.)

“I’m Luffy’s _nakama._ ” He coughed out. “Did you _really_ expect him to abandon me after seeing the stunts he pulled in Ennies Lobby and Marineford?”

Of course, he, too, had. Or at the very least, expected Luffy to not realise until Doflamingo had already killed him. (And he had not expected Doflamingo to keep him alive and torture him in front of Luffy _either._ )

“Well, I figured since you _failed_ his brother once...”

Oh. Oh _that’s_ was Doflamingo was fucking trying to do!

Law could only laugh more.

Of course, he got kicked in the gut for that one.

.xxx.

Luffy was screaming his name as he battled up the castle. Of course. Of course that idiot was.

While - _yes_ \- Law was irritated that Luffy had abandoned his duties - he _should_ have known...

_You were all that he wanted to talk about._

_Does this mean Torao’s leaving?_

_You know, you’re somebody that Luffy admires._

_**TORAO!** _

The idiot cared about him. He admitted that much to Joker. Law knew he did, even if he still had trouble wrapping his head around it.

Perhaps, if Doflamingo hadn’t made such a display in front of Luffy, the idiot would have remained in the coliseum, battling for Ace’s supposed devil fruit, and him stuck chained to the heart chair while the bastard interrogated him for shit he had no idea about. Oh, and probably for his own devil fruit’s abilities...

At the very least - Luffy being here _really_ didn’t set plans back simply because the idiot _wasn’t doing his damn job in the first place._ Perhaps, in the end, it was a good thing Joker’s ego had gotten the better of him...

.+++.

He had won the psuedo-fruit, but now what?

_”Just **what** are you planning on doing with the fruit Luffy?”_

_“Sabo!”_

_...Why the **hell** was the idiot crying?_

_“I-I don’t know...”_

_Oh - for fuck’s sake! Right, Luffy was a fucking gullible idiot! He sighed before yanking off Luffy’s hat and grabbing the piece of Ace’s vivre card._

_“I bet you forgot about **this** didn’t you Luffy?”_

Luffy obviously didn’t have any plans - especially since he had thought Ace had somehow died without him knowing. But was he to keep the contents of this fruit still a secret? Still pretend that Ace was dead? That he held the fruit of the deceased son of Gol D. Roger? Ace had still been recovering the last he had seen him. Still had bandages on his body. Stuck inside of a storage room.

And to be honest, the memory hurt. It hurt because of that one day they spent on the cliff. Of when they yelled out their dreams for the sea to hear. Ace wanted to be infamous. Luffy wanted to be the Pirate King.

And he wanted to be free.

And yet - _yet_ \- just how could Ace accomplish his dream stuck in a damned storage room?

He swallowed before looking at the fruit.

“This is **not** the Mera Mera no Mi!” He cried out to the skies. “Portagas D. Ace is alive and well!” And then he smiled before catching the princess of the kingdom.

“Here.” He said, offering it to her. “I know not what powers this bears, but you may have it if you want.”

.+++.

“You know... I’m not even surprised anymore...” Law said with a sigh, looking up at the sky as they rode on a charging bull.

Luffy had recounted to him just what had occurred in the coliseum after Doflamingo had left with his unconscious body. About the plan with the toys. About Big Mom. About Sabo.

And the fact that the idiot had forgotten he had Ace’s vivre card.

But now the fact that Ace was alive was out now. Sabo had announced it. And no doubt it would spread like wildfire - well... _if_ they got out of this damned cage...

Luffy had asked about Cora-san. Of course, Law had not recounted much. Just the basics. Just that Doflamingo had killed Cora-san.

He didn’t tell Luffy that Doflamingo was the man who he wanted to kill. He didn’t tell Luffy that Doflamingo was why he left. That Doflamingo wanted to use him for immortality. That Cora-san saved him. That Cora-san was the only reason he was alive today.

That Cora-san was why he ended up in the Marines in the first place.

He **did** say Doflamingo was his prey.

Hopefully Luffy thought it was because of what the bastard did to him.

…Well, recently.

.xxx.

“Nakama. That’s what Law said you called him.”

They were standing there now, in front of him.

“I suppose it all makes sense now, just why you would abandon my trap.”

Law was glaring at Doflamingo. Just what did he have up his sleeve?

“But, just _who_ will you choose now? Word on the wind is that _he_ is your nakama too...”

Bellamy charged at them.

.xxx.

“Why do you stop me?” Doflamingo asked when Luffy’s foot stopped his. “Why do you fight for him?”

“He saved me.”

And Law, Law could feel it as their Haki’s clashed above him.

“And, Ace too.” Joker chuckled darkly. “Yes, the whole world knows now. Such a pity that will all go to waste...”

Luffy shook his head. “He saved _me._ ”

And even though, yes, _that_ was driving Luffy - something deep down told him that was not the only reason. No. It wasn’t Marineford. It never was. It wasn’t what Doflamingo thought it was. It was back then. Back in the Marines. With Luffy screaming. With Luffy stealing his books. With Luffy demanded that he _play_ with them.

When he had become the idiot’s _hope._

And yet now - just _how_ the tables had turned....

.xxx.

“Torao...” Luffy coughed and smiled.

Despite himself, Law scooted closer to the idiot. A soft laugh escaped the battered body and a rubbery hand grasped at his sleeve, fingers toying with the edges.

“We did it Torao.”

Law felt his gaze wandering over to where Doflamingo fell and he shook his head. No. He didn’t. He had a chance - had _multiple_ chances - and he failed. It wasn’t him. No. It was Luffy. Luffy who defeated him. Luffy who defeated his ghosts. Luffy who avenged Cora-san.

“No Luffy-ya, _you_ did it.”

 **Not** him.

“No Torao. Your attack... I couldn’t have beaten him if you didn’t do that. It hurt him more than he wanted to admit.” Luffy was coughing again and winced, grasping at his side with his spare hand. “ _We_ did it. We defeated Mingo. Together.”

Law looked away. “...That wasn’t the original plan Luffy-ya...” He started slowly. “You were supposed to-”

Luffy’s fingers halted and his grip on his sleeve tightened. “That wasn’t what you wanted.”

...What? He found himself turning towards the other.

“’Course, I didn’t realise right away but....” the idiot was looking him right in the eyes now, “he’s why you left the Marines right? You wanted revenge.”

How? How had this **damned idiot** who couldn’t even follow a fucking _plan_ figure out his deceptions to fell Joker? **How?**

Law felt himself trembling.

“When he shot you, when you called out to Cora-san.... when he said you were his subordinate...” The hand let go of his sleeve now - but it moved. Moved on top of his own hand and rested there. “You never wanted to beat up Kaido.”

Why? Why was he so damned intuitive and _fuck!_

“Shishishi, it’s okay Torao. I’m not angry. If anything I’m happy. I’m happy I helped you. We’re nakama after all!”

Why? If it weren’t for his self control, he knew he’d be gaping. He **lied** to Luffy. He **used** him! And yet - _yet_ \- this fucking idiot was okay with it and smiling and _happy!_

Still, still those words rung in his head:

_You know, you’re somebody that Luffy admires._

And even that - that was no reason to go through all of this. Was no reason to get so worked up and injured and _almost fucking dying_ over. Was no reason to dismiss lying and deception. Was no reason to be so god-damned _happy_ over it.

He had just left because he was a _selfish_ bastard on a _selfish_ mission.

Law couldn’t understand it.

(Just like he couldn’t understand Cora-san’s efforts.)

“I didn’t ask for help.”

And now that hand - it squeezed. Squeezed his and held it firmly. And that damned idiot only shook his head.

“Mmm, no. You did. When you asked to be allies Torao - you asked for my help.”

He hadn’t asked for help! No he asked for...

...He would just never understand. Idiocy was not his forte.

“...Will you tell me about your spots _now?_ ”

And that request - it just snapped _something_ in him that probably shouldn’t have snapped.

“Just because you _decided_ to go off on your own and do whatever you wanted to does **not** entitle you to mmph-!”

...

...

...

That **fucker** just---!

“Luffy-ya!” Law didn’t yelp. No, he didn’t. No all he did was push Luffy away and raised his voice.

That was all.

And - of course - there was that fucking, god damned smile on his face and...

Was he...

Law groaned.

He _was._

Great. Just fucking great. Luffy was fucking unconscious. Just _what_ was he going to _do_ with this idiotic bastard _now?_

(The next thing you know he’ll decide that he’ll kidnap Law into the sleeping quarters. Yup. Maybe it was a _good_ thing he decided to sleep outside on the deck back on the Sunny. Good god, couldn’t the idiot have at least remained _conscious_ to see whether or not he--)

Maybe that was for the best actually...

(But seriously though - you don’t just go kissing people and just pass out. There’s a fucking thing called _manners!_ )


	17. 15: Conundrum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be trying to stick to weekly updates by the way! Haven't decided a day yet for the updates but I will eventually. This chapter is early because I have one busy weekend ahead of me. Enjoy :D

Law found himself staring up at the stars, one knee drawn up to his chest.

What - just _what_ was left?

_Live!_

This, this was what he had lived for. This was why he had fought. Why he struggled. To avenge Cora-san. To complete his mission. It had been his fault after all. Cora-san had chosen him. Chosen him over an entire _country_ of people. Chosen a doomed, terminal child...

He owed it to them. Owed it to Cora-san. He had risked his life to stop his brother - only to lose it by saving him.

(Somehow, it seemed poetic in a way that it played out this way. That his original plans had not succeeded. Because, even though the plans would have ended up in Dressrosa’s liberation, it would have only been a consequence. That due to his actions, Joker would have been dethroned, and the kingdom allowed to unbind itself. But instead, instead they defeated Doflamingo with their own hands. They allowed the kingdom to fight back and earn their freedom with them.)

Law stared up at the stars… and there was a black mass approaching them...

He felt himself reaching for his sword. They might have won the war but there were still marines out there... there was an admiral...

However, it was his haki that relaxed his shoulders. Because Law recognised this voice. Recognised this presence. It was no enemy.

And so, he smiled.

“Sabo-ya.”

“Hey Torao.”

And.... _just_ when he had managed to forget _that..._ God **damn** it! Damn that bastard... But he wasn’t about to let his frustration show. No, he would play it cool. The last thing he needed was for Luffy’s brother to know...

(Speaking of brotherhood...)

“Such a shame you remembered on your own.” He droned out. “I was really looking forward to picking the Revolutionary’s Chief of Staff’s brain.”

At the very least, it made Sabo laugh.

“Is he in there?” The brother asked as he gestured towards the little house.

Law nodded. “Out cold.” He stated and looked back up to the stars. “He - uhh - passed out. Right after I plucked him out of the skies.”

...Well. Actually. Right after he kissed him - but Law was not going to admit that. Besides, the timing was close enough to the truth anyway…

(Thankfully, too, the princesses of the land had remained quiet about _that._ Although, not without Law’s insistence. Of course, he had not remembered their presence until _after_ the idiot had decided to go out cold. And, when he had turned to them, they were respectfully turning their gazes elsewhere, but there was no way they had missed what had occurred between the two captains. “Not a word” was what he had told them - and not a word was spoken.)

“Fitting, isn’t it?” Sabo added. “That you met on that island earlier...”

And that brought a sigh to his lips. Of course, Sabo didn’t know. Only Luffy did. Only he did. Perhaps - perhaps Ace would figure it out once the news got out but...

It was _too_ fitting...

_“...he’s why you left the Marines right? You wanted revenge.”_

Luffy helped him. Luffy helped the man who had inadvertently helped him...

He shrugged. The subject needed to change.

“So,” he started, turning towards Sabo, “the whole world knows now, huh?”

Ace - that’s who he was referring to.

There was a nod of that blond head, before a nervous chuckle. “I also _may_ have let it slip that I’m their brother. I have to protect them after all...”

Of course. Of course. A soft chuckle left him. Spontaneous. Random. Determined. That’s what these brothers are. Did whatever the fuck they wanted, not caring about the consequences.

(He mentally shook away the recent events again. Ace, back to the subject of Ace...)

“I do suppose it’s a good thing that nobody knows just where the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates are. It gives Ace-ya some time to prepare for the backlash.” Then he paused. Did… was Ace doing alright? _Was_ he in shape to face the challenges of the New World? “Sabo-ya... _is_ he prepared to?”

“I think so. I saw him last year.” Sabo paused with a frown. “He was - ah - still recovering... but he was looking good, getting better. The first thing I did when I remembered was go to him. I used his vivre card to find him.” A small smile reached his face before he reached up to his hat, pulling out a piece of paper. Law remembered this. It was the one Sabo held back on Amazon Lilly. The one he had been staring at. The one that had red embers singing and eating away at the edges. The one that had not been larger than the center of a palm.

It was bigger now. Bigger, without coals glowing. It looked... _whole._

Ace - _yes_ \- was well. 

“This was why I decided to announce it, instead of keeping it a secret.” Sabo admitted before putting the card back into his hat. “If I had seen any sign of weakness, I would have kept the fruit.” He chuckled. “At first - I thought this trap was for me. That Doflamingo knew the revolutionaries were here and he was trying to mock me by flaunting my supposed failures in my face. But, when I saw Luffy, it all made sense. This trap - it was for the two of you. Not for me.”

_The **two** of you he says..._

Law forced himself to scoff. “A poorly chosen one. He thought Luffy-ya would abandon me because I failed to save Ace-ya.”

\--Well, at the very least, he wasn’t the only one to find that aspect hilarious.

Sabo was laughing. Almost hysterically.

“There’s _no way_ that plan would’ve worked, even _if_ you had!” Sabo sputtered out finally. “Luffy _adores_ you _Torao!_ ”

...Yes Sabo, yes, he was _well aware_ of that fact now....

He coughed awkwardly. He apparently couldn’t escape the inevitable it seemed, despite the topic changes. Maybe, he should just stop this conversation altogether.

“...Why don’t we head on in - you came to check up on him, didn’t you?”

(Why couldn’t he just get some peace and quiet for once?)

.xxx.

“Torao? Who is this?”

Law tried to ignore Sabo’s snickering (could the guy just _stop_ damn it) and he shrugged dismissively. “This is Sabo-ya. He’s a revolutionary and-”

“Luffy’s brother.”

Law turned to look at Robin. She knew? Was she there when Sabo had admitted it, or...?

She was wearing that smile on her face though - and something told him that no, no she wasn’t.

“Ah, hello again Robin. Koala sends her regards.”

“Oh, you actually listened to her this time?”

Yup. Robin had known. Known for awhile.

...You know what, he was just going to hand the hat off to Robin. Somebody else could do the introductions this time around...

Now, just where was there someplace unoccupied where he could sit?

.xxx.

He had been too tired to, and, quite frankly, didn’t want to, think about the ramifications of that realisation until the next day.

Robin had known Sabo. She had known Sabo was Luffy’s brother. And Sabo was blunt. Sabo did and said whatever he had wanted to. Not to mention - well - he worked for Luffy’s _dad_ and the Revolutionaries probably had questions...

(And of course, so must have Robin. She had eyes and ears everywhere - _literally_ with that devil fruit of hers.)

Which meant - well. She must have at least found out the events of Impel Down and Marineford.

_You were all that he wanted to talk about._

This entire time, she had known. Known about his history with Luffy.

Law had some questions he needed answered.

“...If you knew, why did you speak up against the alliance on Punk Hazard Nico-ya?” He asked when he gotten her alone.

“Whatever do you mean Torao?”

Law felt the frustration building - his patience was unbearably thin lately. “Please - Sabo-ya would _not_ not tell you about Marineford and the conversations that happened during - nor would you have allowed such an opportunity to escape you. I know you know.”

“Oh,” her eyes were glinting mischievously, “are you talking about his collection of your wanted posters in the treasury?”

.......

Luffy’s **_what?!_**

“Oh, wait, were you referring to your childhood history with our captain? Pardon me, just forget about that last note. When I told him to be cautious, I was just ensuring that he consider all alliances carefully, despite their origins. For the future reference is all.”

Law groaned and put his head in his hand as she walked away.

Just **what** has he gotten himself into?


	18. 16: Strength

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my friendo MM: This is the chapter I've talked to you about.  
> For the rest of you: Have fun :D

Three days. It had been three days since the battle, and that was how long it took for Luffy to wake up.

Coincidentally, that was how long it took for the Marines to mobilise.

And, also, for how long it took for Doflamingo’s escort to arrive. And with that escort…

“The Buddha himself has also been spotted!”

Law felt himself stiffening.

How long? Just **how** long had it been since he had actually conversed with him...? By the time he had become a Warlord, the Buddha had retired. And, Law had made no actual effort to locate him. Had never sought him out, never indicated any interest in interacting with him…

And the war – it didn’t count. They didn’t _really_ interact. Just two people on the opposite ends of a battlefield. One trying to _kill_ Ace, another trying to _save_ him.

It had been… well, ever since Doflamingo had become a Warlord. Of course – he hadn’t said anything about it except to increase security around him. To increase his solitude. Doflamingo couldn’t know.

Of course, that was only, really, an excuse to let him run away. Because, with Doflamingo being a Warlord – Law was not safe anymore. Not safe and…

Well _pissed._ And, so, after being left in the care of another Law took the first chance he could and _ran._ Ran away from the protection he once had, but had no longer. Away from the books and the training and the equipment he had been given. Away from the man who had taken him in…

_”...So you are that child from that decimated city...”_

_The voice had caught his attention and he had looked up from what he was doing. That voice... yes, he recognised it. This... this was the man that Cora-san had been working for. This was the **Marine.**_

_“...And you, the marine.” He said bluntly before turning back to his work._

_Truth be told, he didn’t know if he would have even succeeded - he was weak and feverish, the ground cold and hard, and... – but he was trying. Trying because it was the **right** thing to do and…_

_“I think Roicinante deserves a better resting place than here.”_

The then-fleet admiral had found him alone. 

(No, not alone. He had been accompanied by a _frost-speckled_ corpse. One he had stolen from naval troops. Covered in the very blanket he had given Law to _keep out the cold._ To keep out the _patches_ of _white_ snow from sticking to his skin. To keep out the _**memories.**_ )

Found him digging into the frozen dirt with scrap metal. Weak from the amber lead. Weak from the beatings. Weak from grief and guilt and gratitude. Ready to collapse with only determination driving him forward. Forward and… downward.

_The marine had settled in - silently watching as he dug and dug and **dug.**_

_Time had meant nothing to him, he couldn’t stop. Because, if he did, **their** faces flashed into the forefront of his mind. The people he had left behind: the Sister, his friends, his parents, **Lami.** He had left them behind, left them alone and exposed and to the mercy of the elements and to those **monsters.**_

_He couldn’t - **couldn’t** \- leave Cora-san behind like that._

_Couldn’t leave him there, cold and alone and forgotten and…._

_Couldn’t leave him like he had left **everybody else.**_

_“He told me about you child.”_

_The noise, after so much silence, had jolted him but he did his best to ignore the old man._

_“He cared very much for you.”_

_He **didn’t want** to think about that. Think about the way Cora-san had smiled at him and uttered those words and drew his hand up and made those **stupid** promises and… Law fought the sobs that threatened to overwhelm him. Couldn’t this bastard just **shut up?**_

_“As did I, him. He was like a son to me.”_

_**Shut up, shut up!!!** _

_“What gives you the right to bury him here?” He pressed, either ignoring, or oblivious to, the way his words were affecting Law. “Alone. Cold. Far from those he cares about? To take him away from his family?”_

_And that - those words - snapped **something** within him. The something he was trying to keep at bay. The something that he was trying to bury along with Cora-san..._

_His head violently jerked up towards where the man was sitting, out of the hole he was digging, yellow eyes narrowing into daggers and he jabbed the scrap metal into the ground._

_“I should at least be allowed to bury **one** member of my family!”_

_Because - because Cora-san was the only one he had left. Everybody else... He had left them there. Hidden under their bodies... **Used** them…_

_He owed at least **one** of his saviours the proper respect..._

_Those eyes - they changed at his words. Softened and the marine approached his hole, reaching into it. Reaching towards **him.** “Then come with me child. Come with me and we can bury him together. In a place surrounded by those who loved him.”_

Sengoku had found him, and welcomed him with open arms. Taken him under his wing. Protected and shielded him. Provided him with books and education...

And just **what** had Law done to reply him but to run away and become a pirate? Foiled his plans to execute Ace. And, then, his ungrateful ass hadn’t even bothered to seek him out while they still could meet under amicable terms.

Perhaps, perhaps, it had been cruel, to never seek him out …

But, no. No, all he had done was visit Cora-san’s grave. Visit it and leave the rim of his hat, and apologise for taking too long, and talk to him, and catch up, and....

_”I’ll be seeing you again soon...”_

Perhaps - perhaps that was why. He didn’t want to feel the guilt Sengoku’s gaze would have given him. He didn’t want to remember the mantle that had been placed on his shoulders...

_He was like a son to me._

Law was afraid he would back out. Back out and never fulfill Cora-san’s mission. The mission he had compromised and **failed** in exchange for **his** life...

And now - now that man was here. Was here, looking for them.

For **him.**

.xxx.

“...Law.”

He turned at the voice.

“I see you’ve changed your hat.”

Law swallowed - because of where the remnants of his hat _was._

“...And you, your position.”

Sengoku sighed and sat down on some rubble.

“You know that act won’t work on me Trafalgar. It didn’t all those years ago, and it won’t now.”

\---Tch. Sengoku always used his surname when he was displeased with him.

“Well - at least _that_ hasn’t changed.” He scoffed but found himself leaning against a taller piece of rubble.

“...Are you satisfied now?”

Law closed his eyes. Closed his eyes as he remembered his lash outs. Remembered the scoldings. Of Sengoku telling him to concentrate on his devil fruit. Concentrate on his studies. Of shoving books into his face when he found him sulking or brewing off in a corner...

Sengoku had never approved of his path of vengeance. He had never agreed with following in Cora-san’s footsteps...

Satisfied, was he?

Cora-san’s mission had been fulfilled. Doflamingo had been defeated and was now under the custody of the Marines. (Just like Cora-san had wanted...)

Cora-san would be -- but was _he?_

He had wanted blood. Blood and --

_Peace._

Instead, what he got was a damn Strawhat interfering with his plans and --

“...Perhaps.”

_A fucking kiss._

(Law pushed that thought from his mind _once more._ )

Silence had fallen between them as it normally did. Until Sengoku had decided to break it, like always.

“You do know I am disappointed in you Law.”

\--What?

“You were planning on joining Rocinante, weren’t you?”

“Gwuah-?!”

How did he---

The Buddha sighed. “...When I heard you had become a Warlord, I suspected that you would visit Rocinante’s grave.”

“Tch - so I take it you overheard me then...”

God damned nosy bastard. Every **fucking** time...

“...He wanted you to live Law. Your life meant more to him than stopping his brother.”

That made him pause. Pause and wonder. Because he remembered: he remembered the only reason that Cora-san had drawn him away was after he told Baby 5 and Buffalo his full name. He held out his hand - held it out and stared at it. Was that it? What that truly it?

“My... life?”

He clutched his fist and closed his eyes.

“...Was that really the reason?” Because every single day he still found himself doubting. Despite the smile. Besides the admission of love. Besides... **everything** just... just how could somebody... “I had been with the Donquixote family for awhile before he had even bothered... It was only _after_ he had found out that I was a _D...._ ”

“A D.?!”

So - Sengoku knew too?

Law looked up at the clouds and closed his eyes. “--Yeah, just like Luffy-ya. Cora-san... he told me to keep it a secret. That if Doflamingo had ever found out...”

Another sigh left the man that he supposed was his grandfather in a way...

“No. No Law. That wasn’t it. I am certain that he knew no details involving the name.” There was a pause, and Sengoku approached him slowly. “Rocinante saved **you** Law. Not a D. but a person he loved. So live. Live and remember him. You’ve lived for him. Lived to fulfill his purpose. And, now that you have - you’re free. Free from the amber lead. Free from the pain. Free from any grief. Free from any _debt…_ ”

It was weak - but Law nodded as he clutched into the brim of his hat as the emotions threatened to overwhelm him, just as they did before. When he tried to bury Cora-san, and Sengoku had reproached him for it.

Just like he was reproaching him _now._

“I’d never thought I’d say this - not after _they_ followed in your footsteps - but I’m glad I introduced you to those brothers Law.” A smile, now, was gracing those wizened features. “Tell them hello for me - hello and my apologies about the war. I was... only doing as I was ordered to Law. Unfortunately – you _are_ pirates, and I a Marine…”

“Y-Yeah…” And – really. He didn’t blame Sengoku. Didn’t blame Garp, and he didn’t think Luffy or Ace did either. They _chose_ this path… They chose it and the consequences that came with it.

And this time – this time – it wasn’t a hand reaching out for him, but a hand being placed on his shoulders. Acceptance. Acceptance and support. Acceptance and… a farewell.

“So stand strong now Law. Stand strong and _live._ Just like he wanted you to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also. No. I am not sorry.  
> I had been looking forward to writing this chapter for so long. I was just all trying to figure out just why Law would stay and end up bumping into Sengoku, and then my brain thought up this evil idea >D


	19. 17: Can'ts

Law wouldn’t say he was _avoiding_ the other captain. 

Or, should he say that he wasn’t avoiding him because of what had happened a few days ago. _If_ he was avoiding Luffy, _that_ wasn’t the cause – at least directly anyway. Law just – quite frankly? – _didn’t know._

Sure, Luffy was an acquaintance – a _friend_ even – and sure, sure, Luffy had been somewhat in his thoughts from time to time. Either as Mugiwara no Luffy or – more recently – Monkey D. Luffy, but…

_Oh, are you talking about his collection of your wanted posters in the treasury?_

It wasn’t like _Luffy’s_ thoughts and _feelings_ about him. No, nowhere close.

Luffy idolised him. Admired him. And, somewhere along the lines that very admiration had turned into _something else._

Law only remembered the day he spent on the Sunny. Remembered the tour and the hasty briefing of the treasury. Remembered the way Luffy had been consistently **staring** at him. Remembered the way Luffy had sat _too close._ Remembered the **insistence** of being his ally. The _clinging_ fingers…

It was _so_ fucking obvious now - god damn it. But, of course, the idea of somebody crushing on him was the **furthest** thing from his mind.

_You do know I am disappointed in you Law._

He was not planning on being here now. Not planning on **any** of this - which only brought him to his current dilemma:

_What now?_

Simply put, Law didn’t know what to do, how to react, what to say.

_How to **feel.**_

He was lost. So much had happened in the past week, and Luffy kissing him had **not** helped any. _Live_ Sengoku had said. (So had Cora-san.) But - _how?_ How could he live for himself?

_He never had._

Ever.

_You brought the hope back._

_You gave us light in that dark place._

_I’m happy I helped you._

Luffy had done for him just what he had done for the brothers. Luffy had **freed** him. Because, despite what he had told Ace, he **was** trapped. Trapped in a cycle of revenge. That - despite Cora-san’s interference - he had ended up on a path of vengeance. Just, instead of the world, he had set his sights on Doflamingo. And, by helping him obtain it - obtain revenge - by helping him **live** , Luffy had freed him.

The question however now was: did Law continue to allow it? Continue to allow Luffy to help him live his life? If so -- just _how?_ How should he continue to let Luffy show him how to live?

As a friend -- or something _more?_

And still – _still_ \- Law just _didn’t know._

He didn’t _fucking_ know.

And so maybe - _maybe yes_ \- Law was avoiding the Strawhat, but simply because he didn’t know.

**Not** because Luffy kissed him.

(And, of course, Law knew the idiot would think the latter - he just _knew_ it.)

.xxx.

His usual routes were out of the question. Well the ones where somebody had decided to flirt with him. Usually he just – well _hurt_ them if they persisted. (Or, quite literally, steal their heart and then hide it on them.) And… well hurting his ally really wasn’t something he could – or _should_ \- do. (Especially without his own crew. On a boat that _idolised_ Luffy.) And if he stole Luffy’s heart…

Good _god_ he didn’t want to even _think_ of the ramifications of that action…

(The alliance was bad enough – he realised now. A major mistake – well, when it came to his _current_ predicament that is. A mistake, realising that Luffy had a crush on him and jumped at any and every opportunity to be with him. Even if it resulted in Doflamingo’s fall.)

Law had honestly contemplated just _not talking about it._ About simply not acknowledging that it had happened. But even if - _if_ \- he could have pretended that, pretended that Luffy had only imagined the scenario... well....

Simply put: it wasn’t a good idea.

One just did not _assume_ Luffy would even come to that conclusion. No. He couldn’t place bets that Luffy would just think he thought up kissing him, or that it was a dream, or _something._ Hell, if he didn’t - well the idiot might think: ‘because Torao didn’t object, it must be okay to kiss him then!’ Or - _heaven forbid_ \- if he _did_ happen to come to the desired conclusion, the thought might be ‘well, since I didn’t **actually** kiss Torao, I’ve got to now.’

...Either way, Law knew he would only end up being kissed **again.**

And this time - the bastard wouldn’t give him the blessing of _passing out_ to give him time to react. No, he would have to react then and there and---

Yeah, that was something that Law was _really_ trying to avoid.

And yet... yet he **had** to. Had to do **something** to stop him from stagnating and procrastinating.... Luffy was off over there - laughing and dancing and singing and....

And here he was - drinking in a corner because he just didn’t know how to fucking react over somebody kissing him.

Well – over _Luffy_ kissing him.

\--Part of him knew it was because he didn’t want to hurt Luffy’s feelings. He respected the other captain after all. And - well he wasn’t exactly _repulsed_ by it, but, at the same time, he didn’t actually feel _enthralled_ by it either.

He was just uncertain. Undecided. Unattached.

He couldn’t tell Luffy to wait. (The bastard had no patience.) He couldn’t say no honestly. (Not to mention Luffy’s _feelings._ ) He couldn’t honestly say _yes_ either. (He didn’t want to give Luffy false hope... Not to mention - well the idiot had _no_ fucking control switch.)

And - _of course_ \- asking his crewmates was out of the fucking question. (Sure - they probably didn’t know about the kiss, but there was _no way_ they didn’t know about Luffy’s feelings towards him. _Especially_ considering the idiot had babbled on about him for hours to a _complete stranger._ )

God **damn** Mugiwara no Luffy...

(Despite what Sengoku had said - right now he was regretting ever meeting him.)

Law decided that maybe, just maybe, he should go grab another drink...

And _many_ more after that…

.xxx.

“Your bounty is the same as Luffy-senpai’s.”

\--Oh. Oh **fuck.**

(No. No, it wasn’t the number that concerned him. It wasn’t that his warlord status had been revoked. No... It was the fact that _his_ bounty was the _same_ as Luffy’s. The fact that their bounties _matched...._ )

He _wasn’t_ going to hear the end of this.

“I actually _almost_ threw it out - but Robin-senpai asked for it. If you ask her _nicely_ I suppose you can see it.”

Law shrugged. “I could care-”

Luffy had cut him off. Cut him off with this fascination and awe and excitement in his voice.

“Can I see it Robin?!”

_....Riiiiigggghhhttt...._

He was going to walk away now. Yup. Pretend he never saw that gleam in Luffy’s eyes, or that hope. Pretend he didn’t see the way his whole body jumped with elation, and jittered with fervour. Pretend that _this never happened._ Just walk away and just go... watch the horizon or something.

Something that _wasn’t_ watching Luffy fan boy over his wanted poster.

(...Besides, it wasn’t as if he was on some different route in the Grand Line. He was _right here_ in the flesh. Just _why_ did that bastard need to fawn over his poster when he could just fawn over the _actual_ ‘Torao’? Actually… maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Yes, go fawn over his poster Luffy. Leave him in peace for once.)

And so, he settled himself on the upper level of the _Going Luffy_ and just looked behind them. Look towards Dressrosa. Towards the place he had decided to be his grave. Towards the place that he buried his grudge against Doflamingo. The place that he truly buried his past – _Cora-san._ The place where he _finally_ moved on, where his life _truly_ began. Where…

“ _ **Torao!!**_ ”

...It had been so quiet. So _blissfully_ quiet... where he could _think_ and just... try and figure things out. But. No.

_Nooo._

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, _fuck._

Apparently **ignoring** Luffy while the were on the same boat was _also_ on the ‘could-not-do-to-cope-with-Luffy-kissing-him’ list.

(And, something told him that Robin wasn’t about to lend him a book to hide behind...)

Just.

**_Fuck._ **

Luffy’s eyes were sparkling.

“Our bounties match!”

His voice singing.

“Isn’t that **awesome?** ”

His feet bouncing.

Just _what_ the **fuck** was he supposed to say here? The agreeing _Sure?_ Or perhaps the nonchalant _Whatever?_ What about the rude _So?_

“And your wanted poster Torao! _Look_ at it!

Oh. Oh just _great._ Of course that fucker was just _carrying_ around his fucking face and fawning over it and---

Yup.

Yup that was his wanted poster.

Shoved right in his fucking face, so he couldn’t even see anything clearly.

“Doesn’t it look _awesome?_ Look! Look you’re _smirking!_ You look cool when you smirk Torao! Ya know – at first I thought they took a picture of you at Dress—rosa but then I saw your _bear_ in the background. So – it’s an older picture. I wish they took a new picture though.”

Luffy paused, and Law wished he hadn’t looked at the idiot because he was _pouting._

“I mean – your outfit was so _cool_ and _awesome_ and it showed all your tattoos off and…”

Law chose to just _stop_ listening now. Yup. He didn’t want to hear this. Didn’t want to hear Luffy fawn over his wanted pictures. Fawn over _him_ for fuck’s sake! He was trying to avoid _any_ of this. Avoid the idolisation. Avoid reacting. Avoid the fawning. Avoid…

…mother fucking Mugiwara no Luffy.

“Torao…?”

\--Ah. _Shit,_ Luffy noticed.

“Are you okay Torao? Is your arm bothering you? You’re squeezing it.”

…Squeezing? Ah – damn it. Fucking subconscious habits… There he went, squeezing at it out of frustration and that _wasn’t_ the best of ideas and –

Oh right. He had to answer Luffy, didn’t he?

And he wasn’t about to go admitting…

“…Yeah, sure. Sure, that’s it, Luffy-ya…”

…He shouldn’t have said that. He **really** shouldn’t have.

“Damn… I really wish Chopper was here right now. He could look at it and-“

Law inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, and then exhaled slowly.

“You _do_ realise I **am** a doctor as well, _right_ Luffy-ya? I _was_ the one that patched Ace’s and your own asses up two years ago after all.”

“But you’re in pain Torao!”

Law moved his hand to rub at the bridge of his nose.

“No pain, no gain Luffy-ya…”

Pouting. **More** of that fucking pouting. Didn’t Luffy know any other damn expression?

“Look – look on the bright side Luffy-ya. At least I didn’t die. A bit of arm pain is noth-”

“ _ **NO!**_ ”

…What?

“Torao _can’t_ die! I won’t _allow_ it!”

Another sigh left him. Another sigh and he moved his hand to just cover his face, shaking his head.

“…Torao, _what’s_ wrong?”

There were hands now on his shoulders, and Law knew if he opened his eyes he would see Luffy standing in front of him, worry plastered all over his features. His wanted poster, too, was fluttering against his chest.

“Does your head hurt too? Did you drink too much last night? Do you need anything? What-”

Too much. This was just getting to be _too much._

He wasn’t ready to deal with this right now **damn** it!

And he brought up his arms, pushing Luffy’s away from him in a single motion, hands fisting down at his sides at the end.

“Just—just shut **up** Luffy-ya!”

“Torao…”

Law brought his legs up and held his head.

“Just – _leave me alone._ ”

And – as those footsteps echoed away from him, Law only realised just _what_ he had done.

He just _fucked up._ Fucked up big time.

**Fuck.**


	20. Maybes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty~ First things first, this _segment_ of this series is done, but I will definitely be continuing it~ So don't be all sad. I'm just plotting out the next story in the series :3. I'll try to post next week - if not gimmie another week and I should have it all sorted out by then. A big ol' thank you to Kireeeshima for the suggestion of continuing the series in another segment :3. I was just so content with the ending of this chapter ;w;. You'll see what I mean when you reach it :3.

_What_ had come over him for him to say that?

Fuck.

He hadn’t meant to... Damn. Damn it all. He **didn’t** want to hurt Luffy’s feelings. Fuck. That was the last thing that he had wanted to do. He was trying. Trying so fucking hard not to, and just _what_ did he do? He was **such** a fucking idiot.

He needed to apologise. Needed to do _something_ to amend his error. Luffy didn’t deserve that. Sure, maybe Luffy’s actions had put him in this state; it still wasn’t fair to him.

...But just _what_ was he supposed to say?

.xxx.

He found the other captain sulking on the figurehead made in his likeness, and Law approached the bow and leaned against it underneath him.

“I didn’t mean to do that... I’m sorry Luffy-ya.”

“It’s okay Torao, I get it.”

...Get it?

“Ace said it too before - I’m too pushy and... I get it. I understand. It’s ‘cause of what happened after we defeated Mingo, right? I shoulda asked you first - sorry.”

...Idiot. A mother fucking idiot. That’s what Luffy was.

“Luffy-ya, stop that and let me talk.”

Law paused for a few moments, stared at Luffy before he sighed in relief. Good – the idiot actually listened for once… Listened and was quiet so he could _explain_ himself..

“Listen, I just…” And he sighed. Sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I _don’t know_ Luffy-ya.” He **didn’t** and that was why… why he had… “So much has happened in this last week: I faced my nightmares and won. I accomplished my dream. Avenged Cora-san. Reproached my errors and confronted Sengoku… And – I just… I _don’t know_ Luffy-ya.”

And it wasn’t fair, he knew that. Wasn’t fair to Luffy.

“And – I’m sorry. I am.”

Law dropped his hand from his face, and he tilted his head back, closing his eyes.

“My head – it’s a mess. And that – **that’s** why I lashed out at you. Why I said those things and reacted that way. It wasn’t… wasn’t because of earlier. It wasn’t because of _you,_ but because of **me.** I’m a mess Luffy-ya. And _because_ I’m such a mess I just – I can’t… I don’t know. I don’t know how to react to _that._ To the realisation that somebody… that _you…_ ”

Law found himself swallowing the word. Found himself unable to actually _say_ it.

“I’ve had days, Luffy-ya, _days_ to mull it over, and I’m just… I am no closer to an answer than I was back then.”

And Law exhaled, letting his breath slowly escape his lips, and he waited.

It was silent. Silent as Luffy remained where he was. Silent as Law let his statement drift off. And it stretched. Stretched on and on and on and...

Law thought that maybe, just maybe, he should go. Should give Luffy the space because of his indecision and...

So he straightened himself up, pushed himself away from the bow, grabbed his sword and -

“That’s okay Torao.”

And he found himself freezing. Freezing and looking up to a smile. A smile and laughter.

“Take your time. I’ll wait.”

Law returned the smile with one of his own, and he tugged on the brim of his hat. With an incline of his head, he walked away in a silent understanding.

.xxx.

It was, quite frankly, odd. Odd, the way Luffy would smile and wave at him but still _give him space._ He was so used to the other screaming out his name and running up to him and invading his space and babbling away and going off on tangents. He _wasn’t_ used to **not** being the center of Luffy’s attention. Not used to the way Luffy’s attention would turn elsewhere when he was in the same vicinity. Not used to the fact that he wasn’t Luffy’s number one priority.

_”Why do I gotta babysit those brats again Sengoku?”_

_The Buddha laughed. “Law, you’re not the **only** problem child in the Marines. Garp’s brats are difficult enough to manage but Luffy seems to genuinely like you.”_

_“Pah - you old geezers are just lazy.”_

_And that earned him a whollop on the head._

Of course, not being used to it did not necessarily mean that he _didn’t like it._ That he didn’t like the peace. That it wasn’t welcome or desired. It was... it was nice. Necessary even. Chaos had been his life ever since the Strawhats had arrived on Punk Hazard. Running from one place to another. Fighting enemy after enemy. Recovering.... It was a calm. A calm between the storm that was _them._

And, of course, Law had been getting looks from Luffy’s crewmates, but that was to be expected. Because of the change in their captain’s behaviour. And, that meant the Barto Club was utilising the change in said behaviour. Basking in the sharing of their idol’s attention.

_Good._ Law thought. _Let him finally have a taste of his own medicine for once._

.xxx.

Odd wasn’t the only word to describe Luffy’s change in behaviour. To describe the _lack_ of attention. The lack of the other’s presence…

...Law actually _missed_ it. Missed the way Luffy would abandon and drop things for him. And sure - _sure_ \- it drove him crazy at times. Sure, he needed his space from time to time, but...

Something just... felt incomplete. Perhaps it was the lack of positivity. Perhaps it was the fact that he had gotten used to it and it had become a norm for him and...

Oh, _who_ was he kidding? He _enjoyed_ the bastard’s presence. Enjoyed his attention.

With a shrug, Law plopped down next to Luffy. And, at the curious, _hopeful_ glance, Law shrugged again.

“ _What?_ ” He closed his eyes and leaned back. “We’re _nakama_ right?”

He spared a glance towards the other and felt a smile creep onto his lips at the sight he was greeted with.

He _missed_ that smile.

.xxx.

It took some trial and error, but the two of them played a game of just learning one another’s limits. Luffy was... well eager. Eager and impatient, but he held himself back. Law did not blame him or fault him, and... well... it was _endearing_ in a way. In a way that made him smile. In a way that relaxed him and made him comfortable. That Luffy - _Mugiwara no Luffy_ \- was trying. For _him._ That Luffy was...

_Leave me._

Law remembered. Remembered back to when Luffy fought. Fought _for him._ Fought to defeat the man he had _failed_ to. Fought to finish the job that he had started. And he remembered. Remembered Robin’s words that this was _Luffy’s choice._ That, despite how responsible he felt, Luffy had chosen to help him. And it had touched him. And sure, sure he didn’t know the _true_ extent of Luffy’s feelings towards him then, but... Somebody had been willing to do _so much_ for him. And yes - _yes_ \- now that he knew...

He was a bit terrified.

Because of how _synonymous_ it was.

Because of:

_I love you man._

But this... _this_ was different. It was **not** the same. He was **not** some weak, sickly, useless child that needed saving.

_Torao **can’t** die! I won’t **allow** it!_

And, nor was Luffy.

They were no longer those scared, trapped children who were living with the Marines.

They were pirates now. Pirates who had come to the other’s rescue. Pirates who had one another’s back. Pirates who were... _allies._

Maybe, just _maybe_ , this could work.

He enjoyed Luffy’s smiles and his laughter and his presence. He didn’t want to see him in pain or frown or cry. In fact, just _remembering_ those cries. Those tears. The way Luffy had screamed _Ace_ in his face - it _hurt._ Remembering the tears in their not-so-distant and distant pasts hurt.

...He never wanted to see them again.

And, so, he found the other. Found him alone and staring out to the sea and _quiet_ for one rare moment.

He... enjoyed the sight before him.

Law paused for a moment to take it in before he approached Luffy. Approached him and stood next to him, their hands brushing as he held the railing as well.

And Luffy shot him a glance. The same glance as before. Hopeful and curious and...

“So... I never _did_ tell you about my spots, did I?”

And _excited._

Law felt himself laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaannnnd Boyhood Blues is a wrap!
> 
> I really enjoyed this ending because: Well the titling of the story. Boyhood Blues is titled because of their shared childhood together in the Marines, but it suits as a double meaning because they were sad (Aka "blue") about their stay in the Marines. And much of this story emphasises on their pasts together. Hence why I feel it's apt to end this here. Where they **stop** concentrating on their pasts together, but instead concentrate on their _future_ together. Which leads us to our next segment:
> 
> Grown Gulls.
> 
> (And yes. This is yet another double meaning title :D)
> 
> Look for it in the next two weeks. Wednesday posting date! It'll be next in the series: Jolly Justice. (Jolly Roger/Pirates. Justice/Marines. Get it? :D)


End file.
